

5l $$i ■ 



mh&Awmti 



i 



J.il- i 



m 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY; 



BEING 



THE SUBSTANCE OF 



LECTUKES 



RECENTLY GIVEN AT OXFORD 



WITH 



A FULL ANALYSIS OF THE RAMAYANA 



AND OF THE 



LEADING STORY OF THE MAHA-BHARATA. 



BY, MONIEE WILLIAMS, M.A. 

OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, OXFORD, 
BODEX PROFESSOR OF SAXSKRIT, &C. 



tf> 




WILLIAMS AND NORGATE, 

4, HENRIETTA STREET, COVENT GARDEN, LONDON 

AND 

20, SOUTH FREDERICK STREET, EDINBURGH 



mix i CLXIII. 






OXFORD: 

PRINTED BY T. COMBE, E. PICKAED HALL, AND H.LATHAM, 
PRINTERS TO THE UNIVERSITY. 






PREFACE. 



lHE following pages contain the substance of a public 
lecture delivered by me at Oxford on the 9 th of May, 
1862. They also embody much of the information on 
the subject of Indian Epic Poetry, which I have con- 
veyed to my classes in a more familiar manner during 
the past year. 

The Ramayana and Maha-bharata, unlike the Iliad 
and the Odyssey, are closely connected with the present 
religious faith of millions ; and these millions, be it re- 
membered, acknowledge British sway, and have a right 
to expect the British public to take an interest in works 
which are the time-honoured repository of their legend- 
ary history and mythology, of their ancient customs and 
observances, as well as of their most cherished gems of 

a i 



iv PREFACE. 

poetry. It needs no argument to show that some know- 
ledge of the two great Indian Epics ought to be required 
of all who hold office in India, whether in the Civil 
Service, or in any other capacity. Nor is it right, or even 
possible, for Englishmen generally to remain any longer 
wholly ignorant of the nature and contents of these poems. 
British India is now brought so close to us by steam 
and electricity, and the present condition of the Hindu 
community, social, political, and religious, forces itself 
so peremptorily on our attention, that the duty of study- 
ing the past history of our Eastern empire, so far as it 
can be collected from ancient Sanskrit literature, can 
no longer be evaded by educated men. Hitherto the 
Indian Epics, which, in the absence of all real history, 
are the only guides to the early condition of our Hindu 
fellow-subjects, have been sealed books to the majority 
of Englishmen. Continuous translations of works, so 
tediously spun out, have never been accomplished : no 
reliable summaries have been printed of either poem * ; 



* A short outline of the story of the Maha-bharata, written by Prof. 
Wilson, has been prefixed to Prof. Johnson's useful edition of Selections 
from the text of that work. It is, however, but a bare sketch • and the ab- 
sence of references makes it impossible to verify some of the statements. 
For instance, Pandu is described as incapable of succession to the throne ; 
whereas it will be seen from my Summary (p. 95) that he not only reigned, 



PREFACE. v 

and such metrical versions of the more beautiful episodes 
as have from time to time appeared are so scattered 
about in reviews and ephemeral publications, as to be 
practically inaccessible. 

I trust, then, that the present volume may do some- 
thing towards supplying a manifest want. Its object is 
to exhibit, in a popular manner, the general features of 
Indian Epic Poetry, to indicate the points of contact and 
divergence between that poetry and the Greek epos, and 
to furnish the Sanskrit scholar with a full analysis of the 
Ramayana and of the leading story of the Maha-bharata. 
In justice to myself I should state that the size of the 
book does not represent the amount of labour employed 
on its composition. To produce a few insignificant 
pages, I have had to work my way through volumes of 
Sanskrit ; but I shall not regret the time I have devoted 
to the task, if any useful purpose be thereby served. 

I should also state that, in writing the following- 
lectures, I have had occasion constantly to refer to 
the various excellent reviews and anonymous critiques 



but extended his empire in all directions. Again, Yiulhishthira is said to 
be vanquished at dice by Duryodhana ; whereas he does not play at all 
with Duryodhana, but with S'akuni (Saubala), who appears to have been ;i 
form of Dwapara ; sec my Summary, p. 103, and p. 1 23, note: and compan 
CJdyoga-parva 10, Swargarohanika-parva i<>; 



vi PREFACE. 

on Sanskrit literature which have appeared from time to 
time in India and Europe, and to which I acknowledge 
my obligations. I have, moreover, derived great benefit 
from the valuable ' Sanskrit Texts' of Dr. John Muir, to 
whom also I am indebted for many pertinent criticisms 
on my statements as they passed through the press. 

M. W. 

Oxford, May 1863. 



CONTENTS. 






LECTURES ON INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

Page 

The Ramayana 2 

The death of the hermit's son 6 

Episode of Vis'wamitra 11 

Sita's address to her husband 13 

Episode of the Ganges 14 

The Maha-bharata 16 

Single-combat between Bhima and S'alya 25 

The journey of the five brothers towards Indra's heaven .... 29 

Bhagavad-Gita 32 

Baka-badha, or the Brahman's lament ........ 33 

The Deluge 34 

Story of Savitri and Satyavan 37 

The Ramayana and Maha-bharata compared 39 

The Indian Epics contrasted with the Iliad and Odyssey . . . . 42 

Hindu and classical mythology 47 

Delineation of character in the Indian poems and in Homer 53 

ANALYSIS OF THE RAMAYANA. 

I. Bala-kanda 60 

Episode of Rishyasringa 62 

As'wamed^a 63 

Ambarisha, Richika, and S'unahs'ephah 66 

II. Ayodhya-kamla 67 

III. Aranya-kanda 71 



viii CONTENTS. 

Page 

IV. Kishkindhya-kanda 76 

V. Sundara-kanda 77 

VI. Yuddha-kanda 82 

VII. Uttara-kanda 88 

SUMMARY OF THE LEADING STORY OF THE MAHA-BHARATA. 

Genealogy of the Lunar Race 91 

I. Adi-parva 94 

II. Sabha-parva 102 

III. Vana-parva 103 

IV. Virata-parva . • . . . . 104 

V. Udyoga-parva 108 

VI. Bhishma-parva 115 

VII. Drona-parva 116 

VIII. Karna-parva 117 

IX. Salya-parva 118 

X. Sauptika-parva 121 

XI. Stri-parva 123 

XII. Santi-parva 124 

XIII. Anusasana-parva . . 126 

XIV. Aswamedhika-parva 127 

XV. As'rama-vasika-parva 128 

XVI. Mausala-parva . . . 129 

XVII. Mahaprasthanika-parva 131 

XVIII. Swargarohanika-parva 131 

Khila-harivansa-parva 132 



ERRATUM. 

Page 31, line 7, for Vaitarini read Vaitarani. 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 



IN India, literature, like the whole face of nature, is on a gigantic 
scale. Poetry, born amid the majestic scenery of the Himalayas, and 
fostered in a climate which inflamed the imaginative pow r ers, developed 
itself with Oriental luxuriance. Although the Hindus, like the Greeks, 
have only two great epic poems, namely, the Ramayana and Maha- 
bharata*, yet to compare these with the Iliad and the Odyssey, is 
to compare the Indus and the Ganges, rising in the snows of the 
world's most colossal ranges, swollen by numerous tributaries, spread- 
ing into vast shallows or branching into deep divergent channels, with 
the streams of Attica or the mountain-torrents of Thessaly. There is, 
in fact, an immensity of bulk about this, as about every other depart- 
ment of Sanskrit literature, which to a European mind, accustomed 
to a more limited horizon, is absolutely bewildering. 

Nevertheless, a sketch, however imperfect, of the two Indian epics 
can scarcely fail to interest the admirers of Homer ; for all true poetry, 

* I am here speaking of that form of epic poetry which may be called natural and 
spontaneous as distinguished from artificial. Whether the Indian epics (Itihasas) or 
even the Iliad can be said to answer Aristotle's strict definition of Epos, is another 
question. Specimens of the more artificial epic poetry (kavyas) are not wanting in 
Sanskrit; ex. gr. the Raghu-vans'a by Kalidasa, on the same subject as the Ramayana ; 
the Sisupala-badha of Magha, on a subject taken from the 7th chapter of the 2d book 
(or Sabha-parva) of the Maha-bharata ; the Kiratarjuniya of Bharavi, on a subject 
taken from the 4th chapter of the 3d book (or Vana-parva) of the Maha-bharata ; the 
Nalodaya, said to be by Kalidasa, and the Naishadha by Sri Harsha, on the Bame 
subject as the Nala. These are all artificial poems written when men began to be 
learned and critical rather than poetical. The story of Rama and many of the 
episodes of the Maha-bharata are stock-subjects, which appear over and over again in 
the later literature. 

B 



2 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

whether European or Asiatic, must have features of resemblance ; and 
no poems could have achieved celebrity in the East as these have done, 
had they not addressed themselves to feelings and affections common 
to human nature, and belonging alike to Englishmen and Hindus. 

I propose therefore, before commencing a dry analysis of the Rama- 
yana and Maha-bharata, to give a brief general idea of their character 
and contents, comparing them in some important particulars with each 
other, and pointing out the most obvious features of similarity or 
difference, which must strike every classical scholar who contrasts them 
with the Iliad and the Odyssey. 

To begin with the Rdmdyana, said to have been composed by the 
poet Vdimiki, and so called from two Sanskrit words Rama and ayana, 
meaning ( the adventures of Rama 5 (who as an incarnation of Vishnu, 
the Preserver*, is still a favourite deity in parts of India, especially in 
districts of Oude and Bahar where Krishna has not supplanted him). 
This is the more ancient of the two Indian epics. For centuries its 
existence was probably only oral, and we know from the 4th chapter of 
the 1st book that it had its minstrels and reciters like the Greek pa^aSol. 

To fix the period of the composition of the work as we now possess 
it with absolute certainty is as impossible as to settle the date of any 
other portion of Sanskrit literature. We can only make conjectures 
from such chronological data as are furnished by internal evidence. 

Songs in celebration of great heroes were doubtless current in India 
quite as early as the Homeric poems in Greece, and perhaps earlier. 

* There are three Ramas in Hindu mythology (Parasu-Rama, Rama-chandra, and 
Bala-Rama), all three regarded as avatars of Vishnu. The last is the Hindu Hercules, 
and, as the elder brother of Krishna, appears frequently in the Maha-bharata. Parasu- 
Rama, as the son of the sage Jamadagni, is the type of Brahmanism arrayed in oppo- 
sition to the military caste. He is introduced once into the Ramayana, but only to 
exhibit his inferiority to the real hero Rama-chandra, who, as the son of Das'aratha, 
a prince of the solar dynasty, typifies the conquering Kshatriyas, advancing towards 
the south and subjugating the barbarous aborigines, represented by the demon 
Ravana and his followers. 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 3 

No mention is indeed made of Rama in the Veda, but he may be 
regarded as the first real (Kshatriya) hero of the post-Vedic age ; and 
looking to the great simplicity of the style of the Ramayana, the absence 
in the purer version of any reliable allusion to Buddhism as an esta- 
blished fact*, and to practices ascertained to have prevailed in India as 
early as the fourth century before Christ ; observing at the same time 
the evidence it affords of that independent spirit among the military 
tribes of the north f, and of that tendency to sceptical inquiry even 
among Brahmans, which, working its way southwards, led to the great 
Buddhist reformation J, we cannot be far wrong in asserting that a great 
portion of the Ramayana, if not the entire Ramayana now before us, 
must have been current in India as early as the fifth century B. C. 

It is, of course, a principal characteristic of epic poetry, as distin- 
guished from lyrical, that it should concern itself more with external 
action than internal feelings. It is this which makes epos the natural 
expression of early national life. When centuries of trial have turned 
the popular mind inwards, and men begin to speculate, to reason, to 
elaborate language and cultivate science, there may be no lack of refined 
poetry, but the spontaneous production of epic song is as impossible 
as for an octogenarian to delight in the giants and giant-killers of his 
childhood. The Ramayana then, as reflecting the Hindu character in 
ancient times, may be expected to abound in stirring incidents of 
exaggerated heroic action. 

The main story of the poem, although often interrupted by long 
episodes which have little bearing on the plot, flows in a more con- 
tinuous and traceable course than in the Maha-bharata. It may be 
divided into three principal parts or periods, corresponding to the three 

* In the 1 2th chapter of the ist book of the Bengali recension, S'ramanas or 
Buddhist mendicants are mentioned, and some verses in a more modern metre have 
been added to chapter 109, book II, in which Buddha is named, but these passages 
are evidently later interpolations. 

t See the episode of Viswamitra. 

X The speech of the Brahman Javali 1 Ram. II. 10^ contains infidel doctril 

n 2 



4 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

chief epochs in the life of Rama. I. The account of his youthful days ; 
his education and residence at the court of his father Das'aratha, king 
of Ayodhya* ; his happy marriage to Sita, and his inauguration as heir- 
apparent or crown -prince. II. The circumstances that led to his 
banishment ; the description of his exile and residence in the forests of 
central India. III. His war with the giants or demons of the south 
for the recovery of his wife Sita, who had been carried off by their 
chief Ravana ; his conquest and destruction of Ravana, and his re- 
storation to the throne of his father. 

In the first two portions of the poem there is little extravagance 
of fiction, but in the third the Indian poet mars the beauty of his 
descriptions by the wildest exaggeration and hyperbole. 

At the commencement we are introduced to the Hindu Olympus, 
where the gods are met in solemn conclave, dismayed at the insolence 
of the ten-headed demon-monarch, Ravana, who from his island-throne 
in Ceylon menaced earth and heaven with destruction. The secret of 
his power lay in a long course of penance*, which according to the 
Hindu conception gained for him who practised it, however evil his 
designs, superiority to the gods themselves, and enabled Ravana to 
extort from the god Brahma this remarkable boon — that neither gods, 
genii, demons, nor giants should be able to vanquish him. As, how- 
ever^ in his pride, he scorned to ask security from man also, he 
remained vulnerable from this one quarter, if any mortal could be 
found capable of coping with him. At the request of the godsj% 

* According to the Hindu theory, the performance of penances was like making 
deposits in the bank of heaven. By degrees an enormous credit was accumulated, 
which enabled the depositor to draw to the amount of his savings, without fear of his 
drafts being refused payment. The power gained in this manner by weak mortals 
was so enormous, that gods as well as men were equally at the mercy of these all 
but omnipotent ascetics ; and it is remarkable, that even the gods are described as 
engaging in penance and austerities, in order, it may be presumed, not to be outdone 
by human beings. S'iva was so engaged when the god of love shot an arrow at him. 

t The address of the alarmed gods to Vishnu is nobly given in the ioth chapter of 
the Raghu-vans'a (Kalidasa's epitomized version of the Ramayana). There is a trans- 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

Vishnu consents to become mortal for this purpose, and four sons are 
born to Das'aratha, king of Ayodhya (Oude), from his three wives ; the 
eldest, Rama-chandra, possessing half the nature of Vishnu ; the second 
(Bharata) a fourth part; and the other two (Lakshmana and Satrughna) 
sharing the remaining quarter between them. While yet a stripling, 
Rama and his brothers are taken to the court of Janaka, king of 
Mithila*. He had a wonderful bow, once the property of S'iva, and 
had given out, that the man who could bend it should win his beau- 
tiful daughter Sita. On the arrival of Rama and his brothers the bow 
is brought on an eight-wheeled platform, drawn by no less than 5000 
men. Rama not only bends the bow, but snaps it asunder with a 
concussion so terrible that the whole assembly is thrown to the 
ground, and the earth quivers as if a mountain were rent in twain. 



lation in the Calcutta Review (XLV) which, though incomplete, gives a fair repre- 
sentation of the original. The gods thus commence their address : 
"O thou, whom threefold might and splendour veil, 

Maker, Preserver, and Destroyer — hail ! 

Thy gaze surveys this world from clime to clime, 

Thyself immeasurable in space or time : 

To no corrupt desires, no passions prone : 

Unconquered Conqueror — Infinite — Unknown : 

Though in one form Thou veil'st Thy might divine, 

Still at Thy pleasure every form is Thine : 

Pure crystals thus prismatic hues assume, 

As varying lights, and varying tints illume : 

Men think Thee absent — Thou art ever near : 

Pitying those sorrows which Thou ne'er canst fear : 

Unsordid penance Thou alone canst pay : 

Unchanged — unchanging — old without decay : — 

Thou knowest all things : — who Thy praise can state ? 

Createdst all things, Thyself uncreate." 
* It is evident that Mithila, situated quite towards the east, was an Aryan oountry 
at this time, for Janaka is described (Ram. I. 12) as conversant with all the Sfcstna 
and Vedas. 



6 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

Sita thus becomes the wife of Rama. On his return to his father's 
capital preparations are made for his inauguration, as successor to the 
throne, when the mother of one of his brothers (Bharata), jealous of 
the preference shewn to Rama, demands of the king the fulfilment of 
a promise, made to her in former years, that he would grant her any 
two boons she asked. A promise of this kind in eastern countries is 
quite inviolable; and the king being required to banish his favourite 
son Rama and instal Bharata, is forced to comply. 

Rama, therefore, with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana are 
banished; and the heart-broken king pines away in inconsolable anguish. 
Here occurs a touching episode (Ram. II. 63). The king, in the midst 
of his despondency, confesses that his present bereavement is a punish- 
ment for a deed of blood committed by himself accidentally in his 
youthful days. Thus it happened*: 

One day when rains refreshed the earth, and caused my heart to swell with joy, 

When, after scorching with his rays the parched ground, the summer sun 

Had passed towards the south ; when cooling breezes chased away the heat, 

And grateful clouds arose ; when frogs and pea-fowl sported, and the deer 

Seemed drunk with glee, and all the winged creation, dripping as if drowned, 

Plumed their dank feathers on the tops of wind-rocked-trees, and falling showers 

Covered the mountains till they looked like watery heaps, and torrents poured 

Down from their sides, filled with loose stones and red as dawn with mineral earth, 

Winding like serpents in their course ; then at that charming season I, 

Longing to breathe the air, went forth, with bow and arrow in my hand, 

To seek for game, if haply by the river-side a buffalo 

Or elephant or other animal might cross, at eve, my path, 

Coming to drink. Then in the dusk I heard the sound of gurgling water ; 

Quickly I took my bow, and aiming toward the sound, shot off the dart. 

A cry of mortal agony came from the spot, — a human voice 

Was heard, and a poor hermit's son fell pierced and bleeding in the stream. 

" Ah ! wherefore then, he cried, am I a harmless hermit's son struck down 1 

Hither to this lone brook I came at eve to fill my water-jar. 



* I translate as nearly as I can word for word, in a metre resembling the sixteen- 
syllable heroic verse of the original. 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. / 

By whom have I been smitten ? whom have I offended 1 Oh ! I grieve 

Not for myself or my own fate, but for my parents, old and blind, 

Who perish in my death. Ah ! what will be the end of that loved pair, 

Long guided and supported by my hand? this barbed dart has pierced 

Both me and them." Hearing that piteous voice, I Dasaratha, 

Who meant no harm to any human creature, young or old, became 

Palsied with fear; my bow and arrows dropped from my senseless hands; 

And I approached the place in horror; there with dismay I saw, 

Stretched on the bank, an innocent hermit-boy, writhing in pain and smeared 

With dust and blood, his knotted hair dishevelled, and a broken jar 

Lying beside him. I stood petrified and speechless — he on me 

Fixed full his eyes, and then, as if to burn my inmost soul, he said, 

" How have I wronged thee, monarch 1 that thy cruel hand has smitten me — 

Me a poor hermit's son, born in the forest : father, mother, child 

Hast thou transfixed with this one arrow : they, my parents, sit at home 

Expecting my return, and long will cherish hope — a prey to thirst 

And agonizing fears. Go to my father — tell him of my fate, 

Lest his dread curse consume thee, as the flame devours the withered wood. 

But first in pity draw thou forth the shaft that pierces to my heart, 

And checks the gushing life-blood, as the bank obstructs the bounding stream." 

He ceased, and as he rolled his eyes in agony, and quivering writhed 

Upon the ground, I slowly drew the arrow from the poor boy's side. 

Then with a piteous look, his features set in terror, he expired. 

Distracted at the grievous crime, wrought by my hand unwittingly ; 

Sadly I thought within myself, how best I might repair the wrong. 

Then took the way he had directed me towards the hermitage. 

There I beheld his parents, old and blind; like two clipped wingless birds 

Sitting forlorn, without their guide, awaiting his arrival anxiously, 

And, to beguile their weariness, conversing of him tenderly. 

Quickly they caught the sound of footsteps, and I heard the old man say, 

With chiding voice, " Why hast thou lingered, child 1 Quick give us both to drink 

A little water. Long forgetful of us, in the cooling stream 

Hast thou disported ; come in — for thy mother yearneth for her son. 

If she or I in ought have caused thee pain, or spoken hasty words, 

Think on thy hermit's duty of forgiveness ; bear them not in mind. 

Thou art the refuge of us refugeless — the eyes of thy blind sire. 

Why art thou silent? Speak! Bound up in thee are both thy parents* lives.* 1 

He ceased, and I stood paralysed — till by an effort resolutely 

Collecting all my powers of utterance, with faltering voice I said. 



o INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

" Pious and noble hermit ; I am not thy son — I am the king : 

Wandering with bow and arrow by a stream, seeking for game, I pierced 

Unknowingly thy child. The rest I need not tell. Be gracious to me." 

Hearing my pitiless words, announcing his bereavement, he remained 

Senseless awhile; then drawing a deep sigh, his face all bathed in tears, 

He spake to me as I approached him suppliantly, and slowly said, 

" Hadst thou not come thyself, to tell the awful tale, its load of guilt 

Had crushed thy head into ten thousand fragments. This ill-fated deed 

Was wrought by thee unwittingly, king, else hadst thou not been spared, 

And all the race of Raghavas had perished. Lead us to the place : 

All bloody though he be, and lifeless, we must look upon* our son 

For the last time, and clasp him in our arms." Then weeping bitterly 

The pair, led by my hand, came to the spot and fell upon their son. 

Thrilled by the touch, the father cried, " My child, hast thou no greeting for us ? 

No word of recognition 1 ? wherefore liest thou here upon the ground 1 ? 

Art thou offended'? or am I no longer loved by thee my son 1 ? 

See here thy mother. Thou wert ever dutiful towards us both. 

Why wilt thou not embrace me % speak one tender word. Whom shall I hear 

Reading again the sacred sastra in the early morning hours % 

Who now will bring me roots and fruits to feed me like a cherished guest? 

How, weak and blind, can I support thy aged mother, pining for her son % 

Stay ! Go not yet to Death's abode — stay with thy parents yet one day, 

To-morrow we will both go with thee on the dreary way. Forlorn 

And sad, deserted by our child, without protector in the wood, 

Soon shall we both depart toward the mansions of the King of death." 

Thus bitterly lamenting, he performed the funeral rites ; then turning 

Towards me thus addressed me, standing reverently near — " I had 

But this one child, and thou hast made me childless. Now strike down 

The father : I shall feel no pain in death. But thy requital be 

That sorrow for a child shall one day bring thee also to the grave." 

After narrating this affecting incident of his early life, king Dasa- 
ratha^ struck with remorse and sorrow^ sickens and dies f. The 
banished Rama establishes himself with Sita and his brother Laksh- 

* This is literally translated. It is well known that blind people commonly talk 
of themselves as able to see. 

t His body is burnt with much pomp ; and we may note, as a proof of the anti- 
quity of the poem, that his widows are not burnt with him. 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 9 

mana in the Dandaka forest near the Godavari *. There Siia is car- 
ried off by Ravana^ the demon-king of Ceylon. Upon this, Rama 
makes an alliance with Sugriva, king of the monkeys, or foresters, and 
assisted by them and by Vibhishana, the brother of Ravana t, invades 
the capital of the ravisher, slays Ravana himself, and after recovering 
Sita returns to Ayodhya, of which he assumes the sovereignty. 

Such is a brief sketch of the story of the Ramayana; which, not- 
withstanding its wild exaggerations, rests, in all probability, on a 
foundation of historical truth. It is certainly likely that at some 
remote period, probably not long after the settlement of the i^ryan 
races in the plains of the Ganges, a body of invaders, headed by a bold 
leader, and aided by the barbarous hill-tribes, may have attempted to 
force their way into the peninsula of India as far as Ceylon. The heroic 
exploits of the chief would naturally become the theme of songs and 
ballads, the hero himself would be deified J, the wild mountaineers and 
foresters of the Vindhya and neighbouring hills, who assisted him, 
would be poetically converted into monkeys (j, and the powerful but 
savage aborigines of the south into many-headed ogres and blood- 
lapping demons (called Rakshasas). These songs would at first be 

* The Dandaka forest is described as beginning south of the Jumna and extend- 
ing to the Godavari. The whole of that country was a wilderness, inhabited by savage 
tribes (who are spoken of as Rakshasas) and infested by wild beasts. 

t Vibhishana is described by his sister S'lirpanakha, as having forsaken the practices 
of the Rakshasas. Dr. Muir thinks that he may represent a southern tribe which had 
been converted to Brahmanism, or had adopted Brahmanical usages. Yibhishanas'cha 
dharmatma Rakshasachara-varjitah. Ram. III. 23. He was evidently a great contrast 
to his brother Ravana; see also Maha-bhar. III. 15913 — 18. 

X Heroism, undaunted bravery, and personal strength will always find worshippers 
in India. It is recorded that a number of Hindus commenced worshipping the late 
John Nicolson, one of the bravest and noblest of men, under the name of Nikkil 
Seyn. He endeavoured to put a stop to the absurdity by having some of them 
punished, but they persisted in their worship notwithstanding. 

§ It would be mutual to call them monkeys out of mere contempt. The I 
shasas, who represented the savage and ferocious aborigines of India (and are some- 

c 



10 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

the property of the Kshatriya or fighting caste, whose deeds they 
celebrated; but the ambitious Brahmans, who aimed at religious and 
intellectual supremacy, w T ould soon see the policy of collecting the rude 
ballads which they could not suppress, and moulding them to their 
own purposes *. 

This task was committed to a poet writing under their influence. 
Those ballads which described too plainly the independence of the 
military caste, and their successful opposition to the sacerdotal, were 
modified, obscured by allegory, or rendered improbable by monstrous 

times called andrya, ' base-born/ in opposition to dry a), had been gradually driven 
southwards by the Aryans, but it is clear that they made great resistance in the north 
at the time the Rig-veda was composed. They are there spoken of (under the name 
of Dasyus, Yatudhanas, &c.) as monstrous in form, godless, haters of Brahmans, 
disturbers of sacred rites, inhuman, eaters of human and horse-flesh. See Muir, 
Sanskrit texts, II. p. 435. In the Ramayana (III. i. 15) they are described as 
black, with woolly hair and thick lips (Muir II. pp. 426. 437). The following 
description is taken from Ram. III. i. 22: " Men -devouring Rakshasas of various 
shapes and wild-beasts dwell in this vast forest. They harass the devotees in the 
settlements. These shapeless and ill-looking monsters testify their abominable cha- 
racter by various cruel and terrific displays. These base-born wretches (anarya) 
perpetrate the greatest outrages. Changing their shapes and hiding in the thickets 
they delight in terrifying the devotees. They cast away the sacrificial ladles and 
vessels (s'rug-bhandam), pollute the cooked oblations, and defile the offerings with 
blood. They utter frightful sounds in the ears of the faithful." Viradha, a Rakshasa, 
is said (Ram. . Ill.vii. 5 ; Muir II. 427) to be "like a mountain-peak, with long legs, 
a huge body, a crooked nose, hideous eyes, a long face, pendent belly, &c, like Death 
with an open mouth." The Nishadas of the Puranas, though described as dwarfish, 
have similar features, and no doubt intended for the same race. In the same way, 
in describing races unknown to the Greeks, such as the Cyclopes, Laestrygones, Cen- 
tauri, &c, Homer and other Grecian writers are given to exaggeration, and relate the 
most absurd fables. 

* At the very outset of the poem there is clear evidence that however the original 
songs of the Ramayana may have belonged to the Kshatriya caste, the poem was 
moulded into its present form under direct sacerdotal influence. King Das'aratha at 
the seat of his empire is described as surrounded by wise Brahmans, who, as his 
ministers, direct all the affairs of his government. (I. vii. 2, &c.) 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 11 

mythological embellishments. Any circumstances which appeared to 
militate against the Brahmanical system were speciously explained away, 
glossed over, or mystified. Thus when Dasaratha kills the boy in the 
wood, the dying youth is made to explain that, although a hermit's son, 
he is no Brahman, thereby relieving the king from the guilt of Brahmani- 
cide, which according to Manu was unpardonable either in this world 
or the next (Manu VIII. 381. XII. 55). Again, the account of Rama- 
chandra's victory over Parasu-Rama — the mythical champion of the 
sacerdotal caste * — is slurred over and surrounded with a haze of mystic 
uncertainty ; while the interesting episode which relates at full Viswa- 
mitra's quarrel with the great saint Vasishtha, and the success of the 
former, though a Kshatriya, in elevating himself to a Brahman's rank, 
introduces the wildest hyperbole, with the manifest object of investing 
the position of a Brahman with unapproachable grandeur, and deter- 
ring others from attempts in the same direction f. 

* In the later mythology Parasu-Rama is always represented as a previous incar- 
nation of Vishnu, though his divinity does not appear to be clearly recognised in the 
Ramayana. At any rate, before he challenged Rama-chandra, that is, before one 
incarnation challenged another, we must suppose that the divine essence had left the 
first. Parasu-Rama, the ex-incarnation, is compelled to acknowledge the superiority 
of Rama-chandra, but there is no very intelligible account of the victory over the 
Brahmanical champion. In the Maha-bharata, on the other hand, which has less 
uniformly the stamp of Brahmanism, Rama is described as shooting arrows at Parasu- 
Rama, and striking him senseless. See Wilson's Uttara-Rama-charitra, p. 299, note. 

t Vis'wamitra, son of Gadhi, was a prince of the lunar race, sovereign of Kanoj. and 
the district of Magadha (or Patna). He had a tremendous conflict with the brahman 
Vasishtha for the possession of the cow of plenty (Kama-dhenu, also called S'avala). 
which no doubt typified the earth (go) or India. At the command of Vasishtha, the 
cow created hordes of barbarians, such as Pahlavas or Persians, S'akas or Scythians, 
Yavanas or Greeks, Kambojas, &c, by whose aid Vasishtha conquered Vis'wamitra. 
The latter, convinced of the superior power inherent in Brahmanism, determined to 
raise himself to that dignity; and the Ramayana records how. in order to effect this 
object, he increased the rigour of his austerities for thousands of years. See \\a\u. I. 
g] — 65. The gods, who had a hard struggle to hold their own against over-zealous 
ascetics, did what they could to interrupt him, and partially succeeded. Viswamitra 

c : 



J 2 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

Notwithstanding these and other even greater drawbacks, such as 
that of extreme diffuseness, there is not in the whole range of Sanskrit 
literature a more charming poem than the Ramayana. The classical 
purity, clearness, and simplicity of its style, the exquisite touches of 
true poetic feeling with which it abounds, its graphic descriptions of 
heroic incidents and nature's grandest scenes, the deep acquaintance 
it displays with the conflicting workings and most refined emotions of 
the human heart, all entitle it to rank among the most beautiful com- 
positions that have appeared at any period or in any country. It is 
like a spacious and delightful garden; here and there allowed to run 
wdld, but teeming with fruits and flowers, watered by perennial streams, 
and even its most tangled jungle intersected with delightful pathways. 
The character of Rama is nobly pourtrayed. It is only too consistently 
unselfish to be human. We must in fact bear in mind that he is half 
a god. Yet though occasionally dazzled by flashes from his super- 
human nature, we are not often blinded or bewildered by it. At least 
in the earlier portion of the poem he is not generally represented as 
more than a heroic, nobleminded, pious, and virtuous man, whose 
bravery, unselfish generosity, filial obedience, tender attachment to his 
wife, love for his brothers, and freedom from all resentful feelings, we 
can appreciate and admire*. When he falls a victim to the spite of his 
father's second w T ife, he cherishes no sense of wrong. When his father 
decides on banishing him, not a murmur escapes his lips. In noble 

yielded for a time to the seductions of the nymph Menaka, sent by them to call back 
his thoughts to sensual objects. A daughter (Sakuntala) was the result of this tem- 
porary backsliding. However, in the end, the obstinate old ascetic was too much 
for the whole troop of deities. He obtained complete power over his passions, and 
when the gods still refused to brahmanize him, he began creating new heavens and 
new gods, and had already manufactured a few stars, when the celestial host thought 
it prudent to give in, and make him a Brahman. 

* When identified with the deity, he seems himself unconscious of his true cha- 
racter. (See Yuddha-kanda, 119.) It is even possible that the passages which make 
him an incarnation of Vishnu may be later interpolations. 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 1J 

language he expresses his resolution to sacrifice himself rather than 
allow his parent to break his pledged word*. As to Sita, she is a 
paragon of domestic virtues. Her pleadings for permission to accom- 
pany her husband into banishment breathe such noble devotion to her 
lord and master, that it may be worth while to subjoin a few extracts f. 

A wife must share her husband's fate. My duty is to follow thee 

"Where'er thou goest. Apart from thee, I would not dwell in heaven itself. 

Deserted by her lord, a wife is like a miserable corpse. 

Close as thy shadow would I cleave to thee in this life and hereafter. 

Thou art my king, my guide, my only refuge, my divinity. 

It is my fixed resolve to follow thee. If thou must wander forth 

Through thorny trackless forests, I will go before thee, treading down 

The prickly brambles to make smooth thy path. Walking before thee, I 

Shall feel no weariness : the forest-thorns will seem like silken robes; 

The bed of leaves a couch of down. To me the shelter of thy presence 

Is better far than stately palaces, and paradise itself. 

Protected by thy arm, gods, demons, men shall have no power to harm me. 

With thee I'll live contentedly on roots and fruits. Sweet or not sweet, 

If given by thy hand, they will to me be like the food of life. 

Roaming with thee in desert wastes, a thousand years will be a day ; 

Dwelliug with thee, e'en hell itself would be to me a heaven of bliss. 

Time would fail, if we were to attempt even the briefest epitome of 
all the episodes of the Ramayana. One has been already noticed. 
Another curious legend is the story of the Ganges (Ram. I. 36—44). 

* He persists in this resolution, notwithstanding the entreaties of his mother 
Kaus'alya, the taunting remarks of his fiery brother Lakshmana, and his own anxious 
fear for the safety of his wife Sita, who determines on accompanying him. Again, 
after the death of his father, when Bharata makes an expedition into the forest to 
urge Rama to return to Ayodhya and accept the government, and when all the citi- 
zens add their entreaties, and the atheistical Javali his sophistical arguments, Rama 
replies, There is nothing greater than truth; and truth should be esteemed the most 
sacred of all things. The Vedas have their sole foundation in truth. Devoted by 
promise to my father's commands, I will neither, through covet ousness nor forgot ful- 
ness nor blind ignorance, break down the barrier of truth." II. cix. 17. 

t I have translated these nearly literally, but not consecutively. The substam 
them will lie found in Corresio's Ramayana. vol. II. p. 74 et Beq. 



14 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

Ganga, the personified Ganges, was the eldest daughter of Himavat, 
lord of mountains, her younger sister being Uma. Sagara, a king of 
Ayodhya, of the solar race, had 60,000 sons, who were directed by 
their father to look for a horse which had been stolen by a Rakshasa 
at an Aswa-medha or horse -sacrifice. Having first without success 
searched the earth, they proceeded to dig up the ground towards the 
infernal regions. Meeting with the sage Kapila, they accused him of 
the theft, which enraged him to such a degree, that without more ado 
he reduced them all to ashes. Sagara 5 s grandson sometime afterwards 
found the ashes, and commenced performing the funeral obsequies of 
his relatives with water, but was told that only Ganga could do this 
with her sacred stream. Neither Sagara, however, nor his grandson 
could devise any means for effecting the descent of the heavenly river. 
It was reserved for his great-grandson, Bhagiratha, by his austerities 
to bring down the sacred stream from heaven. In her descent she fell 
first with great fury on the head of S'iva, who had promised to break 
her fall, thinking to sweep him down to the infernal regions. Siva, 
however, quelled the pride of the goddess, and compelled her to wander 
for many years in the tresses of his hair. Then, by further austerities, 
Bhagiratha forced her to flow over the earth, and to follow him thence 
to the ocean (therefore called Sagara), and thence to the infernal regions 
(Patala), where she watered the ashes of Sagara' s sons, and became the 
means of conveying their souls to heaven. Hence a common name for 
the Ganges is Bhagirathi. This river is also called Jahnavi, because 
in its course it inundated the sacrificial ground of the sage Jahnu, who 
thereupon without any ceremony drank up its waters, but consented to 
discharge them again from his ears. Notwithstanding all this wild 
fiction, the description of the descent of the river and its rushing course 
is highly poetical*. 

Perhaps, however, the most noticeable episode is that of Viswamitra, 
before referred to, which contains many remarkable legends. Before 

* The beautiful translation of Dean Milman is well known. The story is also told 
in the Maha-bharata, Vana-parva 9920, &c. 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 15 

passing to the Maha-bharata, it may be well to state that the Ramayana 
(exclusive of the Uttara-kanda) consists of about 50,000 lines, or 24,000 
verses. The great flexibility of Sanskrit, and the easy unfettered flow 
of its common heroic metre *, offered great facilities for interpolations, 
alterations, and additions. Hence there are two distinct recensions or 
versions of the poem ; one belonging to Benares and the north-west, 
which is probably the nearest extant approach to the primitive text ; 
the other, which is less pure and more ' spun out/ to Calcutta and 
Bengal proper f. It is probable that the entire last book, or Uttara-kanda, 
of the Ramayana, in which Rama receives adoration as a god, and is 
even identified with the Supreme J, and the introductory chapters, giving 

* The metre in which the greater part of the Ramayana and Maha-bharata is 
written is the common s'loka (see my Sanskrit Grammar, 935), in which only four 
syllables out of sixteen in each line are really fixed. The others may be either long 
or short. The Indra-vajra variety of Trishtubh is however frequently used in the 
Maha-bharata, and in the Ramayana, at the end of the chapters, we have often the 
Jagati (Gram. 937. 941). The former of these has eleven syllables to the half-line, the 
latter twelve ; and the quantity of every syllable being fixed generally interferes with 
the simplicity and freedom of the style. 

t With regard to the Bengal (Gauda) recension, it may be observed that in Bengal, 
where there is little demand for MSS., learned men have been their own scribes, and 
have always tampered more freely with original texts than the unlearned copyists of 
the north. In 1806 and 1810 Carey and Marshman published the text and transla- 
tion of two books out of the seven which complete this recension; but here and there 
they have followed the northern. Twenty years afterwards Augustus William Schlegel 
published the text of two books of the northern version, with a Latin translation of the 
first; and after another interval of twenty years Signor Gorresio, a native of Sardinia, 
published, at the expense of Charles Albert, a very handsome edition of all the Bengal 
recension, except the 7th book, or Uttara-kanda, with an Italian translation ; but the 
greater portion of the older and purer recension of Benares, the editing of which was 
commenced by Schlegel, remained in MSS. till quite recently. A copy of the whole 
of this recension, with a commentary, has now reached the Bodleian from Calcutta, 
printed, I am sorry to say, in imitation of a MS. It has also been printed very lately 
at Bombay, I presume in a similar style. 

X See Uttara-kanda, ch. 123. He is also so identified in the 6th book, Of Ymlilha- 
kanda, ch. 119, but this chapter may be an interpolation. 



16 INDIAN EPIC POETEY. 

a summary of the plot, are comparatively modern appendages. These 
interpolations, 6 spinnings out/ and variations do not impair the sacred 
character of the poem in the eyes of the natives. Some idea of the 
veneration in which it is held may be formed from the verses at the 
end of the introductory chapter, which declare that " he who reads 
and repeats this holy life-giving Ramayana is liberated from all his 
sins, and exalted with all his posterity to the highest heaven*." 

I come now to the Maha-bharata or Great Bharateid, that is, the 
great poem which describes the achievements, mutual rivalries, and 
contests of the descendants of Bharataf. This huge epic, which is in 
all probability later in date than the Ramayana J, and consists of about 

* Brahma also in the 2d chapter is made to utter the following prophecy in the 
presence of the poet Valmiki : Yavat sthasyanti girayah saritas'cha mahitale Tavad 
Ramayana-katha lokeshu pracharishyati : * As long as the mountains and rivers shall 
continue on the surface of the earth, so long shall the story of the Ramayana be 
current in the world.' 

t The title of the poem is Maha-bharatam, a compound word in the neuter gender, 
the first member of which, mahd (for mahat), means ' great,' and the second, bhdrata, 
' a descendant of Bharata.' It is not uncommon in Sanskrit to put the title of a book 
in the neuter gender, some word like kdvyam, ' a poem,' being understood. Here the 
word with which Maha-bharatam agrees may be either dlchydnam, ' a historical poem,' 
or yuddham, 'war.' 

It is curious that in the Sangraha-parva, or introductory summary (1. 264), the word 
Maha-bharata is said to be derived from mahd-bhdra, ' having great weight,' because 
the poem is described as outweighing all the four Vedas and mystical writings toge- 
ther. Here is the passage (which I do not pretend to explain grammatically) — Ekatas 
chaturo vedan Bharatam chaitad ekatah Pura kila suraih sarvaih sametya tulaya 
dhritam, Chaturbhyah Sarahasyebhyo vedebhyo hy adhikam yada, Tada prabhriti loke 
'smin Maha-bharatam uchyate. 

% That at least a portion is later than the Ramayana can hardly be doubted, as the 
story of Rama in the 3d book (159 13) appears to be an analysis made from the Rama- 
yana itself; and that the greater part is later than Alexander's invasion may be con- 
jectured from the frequent references to the Yavanas or Greeks (i. e. Ionians, a term 
afterwards applied to the Muhammedans), who must have come into contact with the 
frontier of India, and penetrated here and there into the interior at a period prior to 
the principal events of the poem. It is also noticeable that in the Ramayana the 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 17 

220,000 long lines, is rather a cyclopaedia of Hindu mythology, legend- 
ary history, and philosophy, than a poem with a single subject. It is 
divided into eighteen books, nearly every one of which would form a 
large volume, and the whole is a vast thesaurus of national legends, said 
to have been collected and arranged by Vyasa (the Hindu Pisistratus 
or supposed compiler of the Vedas and Puranas*), a name derived from 
a Sanskrit verb meaning 'to fit together* or ' arrange t;' just as the 
name Homer is alleged by some to come from 6/ulov and apw. 

Many of the legends are Vedic, and of great antiquity — quite as old 
as any in the Ramayana, or even older ; while others, again, are much 
more modern, probably interpolated during the first centuries of the 
Christian era. In fact, the entire work may be compared to a con- 
fused congeries of geological strata. The principal story, which occupies 

wives of Das'aratha do not burn themselves with their husband, whereas in the Maha- 
bharata, Madri, the most dearly loved of the two wives of Pandu, really makes herself 
a Sati. (I. 4896.) 

* It may seem strange that the compilation of such very different works as the 
Vedas, Puranas, and Maha-bharata should be attributed to the same person. To illus- 
trate the relation supposed by learned natives to subsist between these productions, I 
here give an extract from the Vedartha-prakas'a of Madhava A'charya (who lived in 
the 14th century) on the Taittiriya Yajur-veda (p. 1. Bibliotheca Indica), translated by 
Dr. Muir in his Sanskrit texts, vol. III. p. 47. " It may be said that all persons what- 
ever, including women and Sudras, must be competent students of the Veda, since the 
aspiration after good (ishtam me syad iti) and the deprecation of evil are common to 
all mankind. But it is not so. For though the expedient exists, and women and 
S'udras are desirous to know it, they are debarred by another cause from being com- 
petent students of the Veda. The scripture (s'astra) which declares that those persons 
only who have been invested with the sacrificial cord are competent to read the Veda, 
intimates thereby that the same study would be a cause of unhappiness to women and 
S'udras (who are not so invested). How then are these two classes of persons to dis- 
cover the means of future happiness ? We answer, from the Puranas and other such 
works. Hence it has been said, ' Since the triple Veda may not be heard by women. 
Sudras, and degraded twice-born men, the Maha-bharata was, in his benevolence, 
composed by the Muni.' " 

t Vivyasa vedtin yasmat sa tasmad vyasa iti smritah. Malui-bhar. I. 2417. 

D 



18 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

little more than a fifth of the whole, forms the lowest layer*; but this 
has been so completely overlaid by successive incrustations, and the 
mass so compacted together, that the original substratum is not always 
clearly traceable. If the successive layers can ever be critically ana- 
lysed and separated, the more ancient from the later additions, and the 
historical element from the purely fabulous, it may be expected that 
light will be thrown on a subject still veiled in great obscurity t — I 
mean, of course, the early history of India, both religious and political. 

The following is a brief outline of the leading story of the Maha- 
bharata, which, like that of the Ramayana, is probably founded on 
fact ; the rival families representing different branches of a warlike tribe 
of Sanskrit-speaking settlers called Kurus, who may have entered India 
together, and would naturally come into collision at their first halting- 
place on the Ganges, their jealousies ending in an internecine civil war. 

If the legendary history of India may be trusted, two dynasties were 
originally dominant in the north, called Solar and Lunar, under whom 
numerous petty princes held authority, and to whom they acknowledged 
fealty. The most celebrated of the solar line, which commenced in 
Ikshwaku and reigned in Oude, was the Rama of the Ramayana. Under 
this dynasty the Brahmanical system gained ascendancy more rapidly 
and completely than under the lunar kings in the more northern dis- 
tricts, where fresh arrivals of martial tribes preserved an independent 
spirit among the population already settled in that district J. The most 
famous of the lunar race who reigned in the neighbourhood of Hasti- 

* Although the Maha-bharata is so much longer than the Ramayana as to preclude 
the idea of its being, like that poem, the work of one or even a few authors, yet it is 
the number of the episodes which, after all, causes the disparity. Separated from 
these, the main story of the Maha-bharata is not longer than the other epic, 

f Notwithstanding the valuable researches of Prof. Lassen of Bonn. 

X Weber (Ind. Stud. I. 220) remarks, "The north-western tribes retained their an- 
cient customs, which those who migrated to the east had at one time shared. The 
former kept themselves free from the influences of the hierarchy and caste, which arose 
among the latter as a consequence of their residence among the aborigines." 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 10 

napur or ancient Delhi, was Bharata, whose authority is said to have 
extended over a great part of India, and from whom India is to this 
day called by the natives, Bharata-varsha. 

'This Bharata, then, was an ancestor of Kuru, the twenty-third in 
descent from whom was Vyasa (the supposed author of the Maha- 
bharata), who had two sons, Dhritarashtra and Pandu. The former, 
though blind, consented to assume the government when resigned by 
his younger brother Pandu, and undertook to educate with his own 
hundred sons the five reputed sons of his brother. These five sons 
were, ist, Yudhishthira (i.e. 'firm in battle 5 ); 2d, Bhima (i.e. 'the 
awful one 5 ); 3d, Arjuna*. All these three were born from Pandu' s wife, 
Pritha or Kunti, but were really her children by three gods, Dharma, 
Vayu, and Indra respectively. 4th and 5th, Nakula and Sahadeva, born 
from his wife Madri, but really her children by the As'wini-kumaras. 

The characters of the five Pandavas are drawn with much artistic 
delicacy of touch, and maintained consistently throughout the poem. 
The eldest, Yudhishthira, is the Hindu ideal of excellence — a pattern 
of justice, integrity, calm passionless composure, chivalrous honour, and 
cold heroism f. Bhima is a type of brute courage and strength : he 
is of gigantic stature, impetuous, irascible, somewhat vindictive, and 
cruel even to the verge of ferocity, making him, as his name implies, 
'terrible J. 5 But he has the capacity for warm unselfish love, and is 
devoted in his affection for his mother and brothers. Arjuna rises 
more to the European standard of perfection. He may be regarded 

* I think it probable that the name 'Arjuna' may come from the root rij, ' to be 
straight, steadfast, upright,' although I am aware that others explain it differently. 

t Yudhishthira was probably of commanding stature and imposing presence. He 
is described as Maha-sinha-gati, 'having a majestic lion-like gait/ with a Wellington- 
like profile (Pralambojjwalacharu ghona) and long lotus-eyes (kamalayat&ksha). 

X It would appear that his great strength had to be kept up by plenty of food . 
his name Vrikodara, ' wolf-stomached,' indicated a voracious appetite; and we are 
told that at the daily meals of the five brothers, half of the whole dish had to he 
given to Bhima. (Xdi-parva, 7161.) 

i) 2 



20 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

as the hero of the Maha-bharata*, of undaunted bravery, generous, 
modest f, with refined and delicate sensibilities, tender-hearted, forgiving, 
and affectionate as a woman, yet of superhuman strength, and match- 
less in arms and athletic exercises. Nakula and Sahadeva are both 
amiable, noble-minded, and spirited. All five are as unlike as possible 
to the hundred sons of Dhritarashtra, commonly called the Kuru 
princes, or KauravasX, who are represented as mean, spiteful, disho- 
nourable, and vicious. 

So bad indeed are these hundred brothers, and so uniformly without 
redeeming points, that their characters present few distinctive features. 
The most conspicuous is the eldest, Duryodhana, or 'the unfair fighter' ||, 
sometimes by euphemism called Suyodhana, who, as the representative 
of the others, is painted in the darkest colours, and embodies all their 
bad qualities. Many Hindus regard him as a visible type of Vice, or 
the evil principle in human nature §, for ever doing battle with Virtue, or 
the good and divine principle, symbolised by the five sons of Pandu. 

The cousins, though so uncongenial in character, were educated to- 
gether at Hastinapur, the city of Dhritarashtra, by a Brahman named 
Drona^f, who found in the Pandu princes apt pupils. From him they 

* Strictly, however, as in the Iliad, there is no real hero kept always in view. 

f Perhaps it may be objected that some of Arjuna's acts were inconsistent with this 
character. Thus he carried off Subhadra, the sister of Krishna, by force. It must be 
borne in mind, however, that Krishna himself encourages him to this act, and says, 
Prasahya haranam Kshatriydndm prafasyate. Maha-bhar. I. 7927. 

% This name, however, is occasionally applied to the Pandavas, as they and the 
sons of Dhritarashtra were equally descendants of Kuru. 

|| Rendered by some, ' difficult to conquer.' The names of all are given in the Adi- 
parva, 1. 4541. Duhs'asana is the most conspicuous next to Duryodhana. 

§ There are certainly many points in his character, as well as in that of Ravana, 
which may be compared to Milton's conception of Satan. Dr. Muir suggests that the 
intimacy with the Asura Charvaka ascribed to Duryodhana may be intended to mark 
him out as a type of heresy and infidelity, as well as of every other bad quality. 

IF Drona appears to have kept a kind of school, to which all the young princes of 
the neighbouring countries resorted. (Adi-parva, 5220.) 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 5] 

acquired l intelligence and learning, lofty aims, religious earnestness, and 
love of truth/ All the cousins were equally instructed in war and 
arms ; and Arjuna distinguishes himself in every exercise, * submissive 
ever to his teacher's will, contented, modest, affable, and mild/ 

Their education finished, a grand tournament is held, at which all 
the youthful cousins display their skill in archery, in the management 
of chariots (Ratha-charya), horses, and elephants, in sword, spear, and 
club exercises, and wrestling. The scene is graphically described (1. 53 24). 
An immense concourse of spectators cheer the combatants. The agi- 
tation of the crowd is compared to the roar of a mighty ocean. Arjuna, 
after exhibiting prodigies of strength, shoots five separate arrows simul- 
taneously into the jaws of a revolving iron boar, and twenty-one arrows 
into the hollow of a cow's horn suspended by a string. Suddenly there 
is a pause. The crowd turns as one man towards a point in the arena, 
where a murmur gradually rising to a clamour, which rent the sky like 
a thunder-clap, announces the entrance of another combatant. This 
proves to be a warrior named Karna, who enters the lists in full 
armour, and after accomplishing the same feats in archery, challenges 
Arjuna to single combat. But each champion is required to tell his 
name and pedigree ; and Kama's parentage being doubtful (he was 
really the illegitimate child of Pritha by the sun, and therefore half- 
brother of Arjuna), he is obliged to retire, " hanging his head with 
shame like a drooping lily." 

Kama, thus publicly humiliated, becomes afterwards a conspicuous 
and valuable ally of the Kurus against his own half-brothers. His 
character is well imagined. Feeling keenly the stain on his birth, his 
nature is chastened by the trial. He exhibits in a high degree forti- 
tude, chivalrous honour, self-sacrifice, and devotion. Especially remark- 
able for a liberal and generous disposition *, he never stoops to ignoble 
practices like his friends the Kurus, who are intrinsically bad men. 

The superior skill of the Pandavas, displayed at this public contest, 

* He is often to this clay cited as a model of liberality. See his name, Yasu-shena. 



22 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

excited all the malevolence of their cousins, and they endeavoured to 
destroy them by setting fire to their house; but the Pandavas, warned 
of their intention, escaped by an underground passage to the woods. 
Whilst living there disguised as mendicant Brahmans, they were induced 
to join a number of other Brahmans on their way to a Swayamvara, 
or public choice of a husband by a beautiful maiden named Draupadi, 
daughter of Drupada, king of Panchala. An immense concourse of 
princely suitors, with their retainers, came to the ceremony ; and king 
Drupada (who was an old schoolfellow of the Brahman, Drona, but had 
offended him by repudiating his friendship in later years) eagerly' looked 
for Arjuna amongst them, that, strengthened by that heroes alliance, he 
might defy Drona^s anger. He therefore prepared an enormous bow, 
which he was persuaded none but Arjuna could bend, and proposed a 
trial of strength, promising to give his daughter to any one who could 
by means of this bow shoot five arrows simultaneously through a 
revolving ring into a target beyond. An amphitheatre was erected 
outside the town, surrounded by tiers of lofty seats and raised plat- 
forms, with variegated awnings. Magnificent palaces, crowded with 
eager spectators, overlooked the scene. Actors, conjurors, athletes, and 
dancers exhibited their skill before the multitude. Strains of exquisite 
music floated in the air. Drums and trumpets sounded. When ex- 
pectation was at its height, Draupadi in gorgeous apparel entered the 
arena, and the bow was brought. The hundred sons of Dhritarashtra 
strain every nerve to bend the ponderous weapon, but without effect. 
Its recoil dashes them breathless to the ground, and makes them the 
laughing-stock of the crowd. Arjuna now advances, disguised as a 
Brahman. (Adi-parva, 7049.) 

A moment motionless lie stood and scanned 

The bow, collecting all his energy. 

Next walking round in homage, breathed a prayer 

To the Supreme bestower of good gifts ; 

Then fixing all his mind on Draupadi 

He grasped the ponderous weapon in his hand, 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 23 

And with one vigorous effort braced the string. 
Quickly the shafts were aimed; they flew — 
The mark fell pierced; a shout of victory 
Eang through the vast arena ; from the sky 
Garlands of flowers crowned the hero's head, 
Ten thousand fluttering scarfs waved in the air, 
And drum and trumpet sounded forth his triumph. 

I need not suggest the parallel which will at once be drawn by the 
classical scholar, between this trial of archery and a similar scene in 
the Odyssey. 

When the suitors find themselves outdone by a mere stripling in 
the coarse dress of a mendicant Brahman, their rage knows no bounds. 
A real battle ensues. The Pandu princes protect Drupada, and enact 
prodigies. Bhima tears up a tree, and uses it as a club. Kama at 
last meets Arjuna in single combat, rushing on him like a young 
elephant. They overwhelm each other with showers of arrows, which 
darken the air. But not even Kama can withstand the irresistible 
onset of the godlike Arjuna, and he and the other suitors retire van- 
quished from the field*, leaving Braupadi as the bride of Arjuna. 

The Pandu princes, thus strengthened by Drupada's alliance, throw 
off their disguise, and the king, Dhritarashtra, is induced to settle all 
differences by dividing his kingdom between them and his own sons. 

Soon afterwards, at a great assembly, the artful Kuru princes pro- 
pose a game at dice. No Hindu is proof against the love of gambling. 
Yudhishthira, excellent as he is in other respects, has this one fault. 
By degrees he stakes every thing, and, after losing his territory and 
possessions, pledges himself that he and his brothers shall live for twelve 
years in the woods, and shall pass the thirteenth concealed under 
assumed names in various disguises. Their term of banishment ended, 
they prepare to make war on their cousins, and recover their kingdom. 
We have then the preparations on both sides described. Each party seeks 

* They console themselves by declaring that they are defeated, not by physical force, 
but by the divine power of the sacerdotal caste. (I. 7123.) 



24 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

alliances. Krishna, king of Dwaraka (worshipped in the present day as 
the most popular incarnation of Vishnu), takes the side of his cousins, 
the Pandavas, and condescends to serve as the charioteer of Arjuna. 

The rival armies meet on a vast plain, north-west of the modern 
Delhi, called ' the field of the Kurus/ Duryodhana entrusts the com- 
mand of his troops to his ablest generals, and first to his grand-uncle 
Bhishma, the oldest warrior present. The Pandavas, on the other side, 
are led on in the first engagement by Bhima. 

And now as the hosts advanced a tumult filled the sky ; the earth 
shook — " Chafed by wild winds, the sands upcurled to heaven, and 
spread a veil before the sun." Showers of blood fell*. Shrill kites, 
vultures, and howling jackalls hung about the rear of the marching 
armies. Thunder roared, lightnings flashed, blazing meteors shot across 
the darkened sky ; yet the chiefs, regardless of these portents, " pressed 
on to mutual slaughter, and the peal of shouting hosts commingling, 
shook the world." 

There is to a European a ponderous and unwieldy character about 
Oriental warfare, which he finds it difficult to realize; yet the battle- 
scenes, though exaggerated, are vividly described, and carry the ima- 
gination into the midst of the conflict. Monstrous elephants career 
over the field, trampling on men and horses, and dealing destruction 
with their huge tusks ; enormous clubs and iron maces clash toge- 
ther with the noise of thunder ; rattling chariots dash against each 
other ; thousands of arrows hurtle in the air, darkening the sky ; trum- 
pets, kettle-drums, and horns add to the uproar; confusion, carnage, 
and death are every where. The individual de«ds of prowess and 
single-combats between the heroes are sometimes graphically narrated. 
Each chief has a conch-shell (s'ankha) for a trumpet, which, as well as 
his principal weapon, has a name, as if personified f. Thus we read: 

* So Jupiter rains blood twice in the Iliad, XI. 53. and XVI. 459. 

t Trumpets do not appear to have been used by Homer's heroes. Whence the value 
of a Stentorian voice. But there is express allusion in II. XVIII. 219. to the use of 
trumpets at sieges. 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 'J.') 

Arjuna blew his shell called ' God-given' (Deva-datta), and carried a 
bow called Gandiva. Krishna sounded Panchajanya (a shell made of the 
bones of the demon Panchajana), Bhima blew a great trumpet called 
Paundra, and Yudhishthira sounded his, called 'Eternal victory' (Ananta- 
vijaya). Here is a description of a single-combat between Bhima and 
Salya, the king of Madra (taken from the Salya-parva, 594), which I 
have translated nearly literally. It will give an idea of the redundance 
of similes in the original. 

Soon as he saw his charioteer struck down, 
Straightway the Madra monarch grasped his mace, 
And like a mountain firm and motionless 
Awaited the attack. The warrior's form 
Was awful as the world-consuming fire, 
Or as the noose-armed god of death, or as 
The peaked Kailasa, or the Thunderer 
Himself, or as the trident-hearing god, 
Or as a maddened forest elephant. 
% Him to defy did Bhima hastily 

Advance, wielding aloft his massive club. 

A thousand conchs and trumpets and a shout, 

Firing each champion's ardour, rent the air. 

From either host, spectators of the fight, 

Burst forth applauding cheers : " The Madra king 

Alone," they cried, " can bear the rush of Bhima ; 

None but heroic Bhima can sustain 

The force of S'alya." Now like two fierce bulls 

Sprang they towards each other, mace in hand. 

And first as cautiously they circled round, 

Whirling their weapons as in sport, the pair 

Seemed matched in equal combat. S'alya's club, 

Set with red fillets, glittered as with flame, 

While that of Bhima gleamed like fitahing lightning. 

Anon the clashing iron met, and scattered round 

A fiery shower ; then fierce as elephants 

Or butting bulls they battered each the other. 

Thick fell the blows, and soon each stalwart frame, 

Spattered with gore, glowed like the Klniuka, 

E 



26 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

Bedecked with scarlet blossoms; yet beneath 
The rain of strokes, unshaken as a rock 
Bhima sustained the mace of S'alya, he 
With equal firmness bore the other's blows. 
Now like the roar of crashing thunder-clouds 
Sounded the clashing iron ; then, their clubs 
Brandished aloft, eight paces they retired, 
And swift again advancing to the fight, 
Met in the midst like two huge mountain-crags 
Hurled into contact. Nor could either bear 
The other's shock ; together down they rolled, 
Mangled and crushed, like two tall standards fallen. 

The following description, from the Drona-parva (544), is less literal. 

High on a stately car 
Swift borne by generous coursers to the fight, 
The vaunting son of Puru proudly drove, 
Secure of conquest o'er Subhadra's son. 
The youthful champion shrank not from the conflict. 
Fierce on the boastful chief he sprang, as bounds 
The lion's cub upon the ox ; and now 
The Puru chief had perished, but his dart 
Shivered with timely aim the upraised bow 
Of Abhimanyu *. From his tingling hand 
The youthful warrior cast the fragments off, 
And drew his sword, and grasped his iron-bound shield ; 
Upon the car of Faurava he leapt 
And seized the chief — his charioteer he slew, 
And dragged the monarch senseless o'er the plain f . 

In all this there is nothing extravagant; but when Arjuna is de- 
scribed as killing five hundred warriors simultaneously, covering the 
whole plain with dead and filling rivers with blood; Yudhishthira as 
slaughtering a hundred men i in a mere twinkle 5 {nimesha-mdtrena) ; 



* The name of Arjuna's son by Subhadra. 

t In this extract I have partly followed a spirited though too free translation in 
the Oriental Magazine. 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 27 

Bhima as annihilating a monstrous elephant, including all mounted 
upon it, and fourteen foot-soldiers besides, with one blow of his club ; 
Nakula and Sahadeva, fighting from their chariots, as cutting off heads 
by the thousand, and sowing them like seed upon the ground ; when, 
moreover, the principal heroes make use of mystical weapons, given to 
them by the gods, possessed of supernatural powers, and supposed to 
be themselves celestial beings *; we at once perceive that there is an 
unreality about such scenes, which mars the beauty of the description. 
Still it must be borne in mind that the heroes of the Indian epics have 
semi-divine natures, and that what would be incredible in a mere mortal 
is not only possible but appropriate in a demigod f. It would be im- 
possible of course to detail all the events of the great battle, which was 
protracted, with various successes on either side, for many days. Several 
times, like " clouds before the gale," the Pandavas were driven back 
by the veteran Drona (their former tutor) ; but the day is generally 

* About a hundred of these weapons are enumerated in the Ramayana (I. xxix), 
and constant allusion is made to them in battle-scenes both in the Ramayana and 
Maha-bharata. Arjuna, in the latter, undergoes a long course of austerities to obtain 
celestial weapons from Siva. It is by the terrific brahmdstra that Vas'ishtha conquers 
Viswamitra, and Rama kills Havana. Sometimes they appear to be mystical powers 
exercised by meditation, rather than weapons, and are supposed to assume animate 
forms, and possess names and faculties like the genii in the Arabian Nights. Thus 
in Ramayana I. xxix. they address Rama : ' Behold us here present, O Rama, as your 
servants ;' and Rama, taking them by the hand, replies, ' Be present to me, when 
called to mind.' Certain distinct spells, charms, or prayers had to be learnt for the 
due using (prayoga) and restraining (sanhdra) of these weapons or powers. See 
Ram. I. xxx, and Raghu-vans'a V. 57. (Sammohanam nama astram adhatswa prayoga- 
sanhara-vibhakta-mantram.) When once let loose, he only who knew the secret spell 
for recalling them, could bring them back ; but the brahmdstra returned to its pos- 
sessor's quiver of its own accord. 

t Aristotle says that the epic poet should prefer impossibilities which appear pro- 
bable to such things as though possible appear improbable. (Poetics III. 6.) But 
previously, in comparing epic poetry with tragedy, he observes, " the surprising is 
necessary in tragedy, but the epic poem goes further, and admits even the improbable 
and incredible, from which the highest degree of the surpri UI.4.) 



28 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

restored by Arjuna, and one after another the leaders of the Kuru party- 
are slain. 

At last a fearful combat takes place between Bhima and Duryodhana, 
in which the latter receives a mortal blow. He falls like a huge forest- 
tree felled to the ground, causing the earth to vibrate. Various prodi- 
gies succeed. A whirlwind rises, showers of dust fall, trees are up- 
rooted, mountains quiver, meteors stream in the sky, the clouds rain 
blood, demons and evil spirits fill the air with their hideous yells *. 

After the fall of their chief an attempt is made by some of the sur- 
viving Kuru princes to retrieve their shattered fortunes in a night 
attack on the camp of the sleeping Pandavas. The description of this 
incident, told in the Sauptika-parva (or loth book), resembles very 
strikingly Homer's narrative of the night-adventures of Diomed and 
Ulysses in the camp of the Trojans. (Iliad, book X.) 

The battle having terminated in favour of the Pandavas, they recover 
their possessions, and the eldest brother is elevated to the throne ; and 
here a European poet would have brought the story to an end. The 
Sanskrit poet has a deeper knowledge of human nature, or at least of 
Hindu nature. 

In the most popular of Indian dramas (the S'akuntala) there occurs 
this sentiment (see my translation of this play, p. 124) : 

'Tis a vain thought that to attain the end 
And object of ambition is to rest. 
Success doth only mitigate the fever 
Of anxious expectation : soon the fear 
Of losing what we have, the constant care 
Of guarding it doth weary. 

If then the great national epic was to respond truly to the deeper 
emotions of the Hindu mind, it could not leave the Pandavas in the 

* This description favours the idea expressed at p. 20, note §. Showers of blood 
are a common prodigy in the Indian epics. A similar portent occurs, as we have seen 
(p. 24, note), twice in the Iliad. The following parallel from Hesiod, Scut. Here. 384, 
may be added : Ka8 S' ap an ovpavoOev yjndbas fiakcv aifxaToea-a-as. 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 20 

contented enjoyment of their kingdom. It had to instil a more sublime 
moral — a lesson which even the disciples of a divine philosophy are 
slow to learn — namely, that all who desire rest must set their faces 
heavenwards. Hence we are brought in the concluding chapters to 
the fine description of the renunciation of their kingdom by the five 
brothers, and their journey towards Indra's heaven in mount Meru. 
Part of this (see Maha-prasthanika-parva, 24) I will now translate, as 
nearly as I can, word for word *. 

When the four brothers knew the high resolve of king Yudhishthira, 

Forthwith with Draupadi they issued forth, and after them a dog 

Followed : the king himself went out the seventh from the royal city, 

And all the citizens and women of the palace walked behind ; 

But none could find it in their heart to say unto the king, 'Return.' 

And so at length the train of citizens went back, bidding adieu. 

Then the high-minded sons of Pandu and the noble Draupadi 

Roamed onwards, fasting, with their faces towards the east ; their hearts 

Yearning for union with the Infinite ; bent on abandonment 

Of worldly things. They wandered on to many countries, many a sea 

And river. Yudhishthira walked in front, and next to him came Bhima, 

And Arjuna came after him, and then, in order, the twin brothers. 

And last of all came Draupadi, with her dark skin and lotus-eyes — 

The faithful Draupadi, loveliest of women, best of wives — 

Behind them walked the only living thing that shared their pilgrimage, 

The dog — And by degrees they reached the briny sea. There Arjuna 

Cast in the waves his bow and quivers t. Then with souls well-disciplined 

They reached the northern region, and beheld with heaven-aspiring hearts 

The mighty mountain Himavat. Beyond its lofty peak they passed 

Towards the sea of sand, and saw at last the rocky Meru, king 

Of mountains. As with eager steps they hastened on, their souls intent 

On union with the Eternal, Draupadi lost hold of her high hope, 

And faltering fell upon the earth. 

* Since the above was written I have received from Paris M. Foucaux's translation 
into French of eleven episodes of the Maha-bharata, including a French version of 
this passage. 

t Arjuna had two celebrated quivers, besides the bow named (uuuliva, given to 
him by the god Agni. 



80 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

One by one the others also drop, till only Bhima, Yudhishthira, and 
the dog are left. Still Yudhishthira walks steadily in front, calm and 
unmoved, looking neither to the right hand nor to the left, and gather- 
ing up his soul in inflexible resolution. Bhima, shocked at the fall of 
his companions, and unable to understand how beings so apparently 
guileless should be struck down by fate, appeals to his brother, who 
without looking back explains that death is the consequence of sinful 
thoughts and too great attachment to worldly objects; and that Drau- 
padi's fall was owing to her excessive affection for Arjuna ; Sahadeva's 
(who is supposed to be the most humble-minded of the five brothers) 
to his pride in his own knowledge ; Nakukr's (who is very handsome) 
to feelings of personal vanity ; and Arjuna^s to a boastful confidence in 
his power to destroy his foes. Bhima then feels himself falling, and is 
told that he suffers death for his selfishness, pride, and too great love 
of enjoyment. The sole survivor is now Yudhishthira, who still walks 
steadily forward, followed only by the dog. 

When with a sudden sound that rang through earth and heaven came the god 
Towards him in a chariot, and he cried, "Ascend, O resolute prince." 
Then did the king look back upon his fallen brothers, and address'd 
These words unto the Thousand-eyed, in anguish — " Let my brothers here 
Come with me. Without them, god of gods, I would not wish to enter 
E'en heaven ; and yonder tender princess Draupadi, the faithful wife, 
Worthy of happiness, let her too come. In mercy hear my prayer." 

Upon this, Indra informs him that the spirits of Draupadi and his 
brothers are already in heaven, and that he alone is permitted to ascend 
there in bodily form. Yudhishthira now stipulates that his dog shall 
be admitted with him. Indra says sternly, " Heaven has no place for 
those who are accompanied by dogs (s'wavatam) f 9 but Yudhishthira is 
unshaken in his resolution, and declines abandoning the faithful animal. 
Indra remonstrates — " You have abandoned your brothers and Drau- 
padi ; why not forsake the dog }" To this Yudhishthira haughtily replies, 
" I had no power to bring them back to life : how can there be aban- 
donment of those who no longer live V 9 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 31 

' The dog, it appears, was his own father Dharma in disguise (Maha- 
prasthanika-parva, 88*). Reassuming now his proper form he praises 
Yudhishthira for his constancy, and they enter heaven together. There, 
to his surprise, he finds Duryodhana and his cousins, but not his bro- 
thers or Draupadi. Hereupon he declines remaining in heaven without 
them. An angel is then sent to conduct him across the Indian Styx 
(Vaitarini) to the hell where they are supposed to be. The scene 
which now follows may be compared to the Necyomanteia in the ele- 
venth book of the Odyssey, or to parts of Dante. 

The particular hell to which Yudhishthira is taken is a dense wood, 
whose leaves are sharp swords, and its ground paved with razors f- 
The way to it is strewed with foul and mutilated corpses. Hideous 
shapes flit across the air and hover over him. Here there is a horror 
of palpable darkness. There the wicked are burning in flames of blazing 
fire. Suddenly he hears the voices of his brothers and companions 
imploring him to assuage their torments, and not desert them. His 
resolution is taken. Deeply affected, he bids the angel leave him to 
share their miseries. This is his last trial. The whole scene now 
vanishes. It was a mere illusion, to test his constancy to the utmost. 
He is now directed to bathe in the heavenly Ganges ; and having 
plunged into the sacred stream, he enters the real heaven, where at 
length, in company with Draupadi and his brothers, he finds that rest 
and happiness which were unattainable on earth. 

I proceed to give one or two specimens from the most celebrated 
episodes of the Maha-bharata. The ' Story of Nala* is so well known 

* So I infer from the original, which, however, is somewhat obscure. The ex- 
pression is dharma- swariipi bhagavdn. At any rate, the dog was a mere phantom 
created to try Yudhishthira, as it is evident that a real dog is not admitted with 
Yudhishthira to heaven. 

t I.e. Asi-patra-vana. The Hindus exaggerate the horrors of their infernal re- 
gions, as they do everything else; nor does one place of punishment satisfy them. 
In Manu(IY. 88) twenty-one hells are enumerated, and in the Puranas various others 
are added, comprising every species of possible torment. 



32 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

through various editions of the text, and especially that published by 
this University *, that I need not refer to it here. 

A still more celebrated episode is the Bhagavad-Gita or Divine song, 
(a philosophical poem, introduced into the Maha-bharata subsequently 
to the Christian era.) This combines the Pantheism of the Vedanta 
with the more modern principle of bhakti, or devotion to Krishna as 
the supreme Being f ; and teaches that renunciation of the world ought 
not to involve the avoidance of action or the neglect of professional 
duties. These doctrines are propounded in a discourse supposed to take 
place between Krishna, acting as Arjuna^s charioteer, and Arjuna him- 
self, in the chariot stationed between the rival armies just before the 
commencement of the battle. Arjuna, seeing his relatives drawn up in 
battle array, is suddenly struck with compunction at the idea of fight- 
ing his way to a kingdom through the blood of his kindred. He con- 
fides his misgivings to Krishna in the following words : " Beholding 
my kindred about to engage in killing one another, my limbs give way, 
my face dries up, my body trembles; I will not fight, O Krishna. I 
seek not victory nor a kingdom. What shall we do with a kingdom? 
What with enjoyments or with life itself, when we have slain these 
relations?" Krishna replies in a long metaphysical dialogue, full of 
fine passages, the moral of which is that as Arjuna belongs to the 
military caste his duty is to fight. He is urged not to hesitate about 
slaughtering his relations by an argument drawn from the eternal 
existence of the soul, which I will now translate % — 

The wise grieve not for the departed, nor for those who yet survive. 

Ne'er was the time when I was not, nor thou, nor yonder chiefs ; and ne'er 

Shall be the time when all of us shall be not ; as the unbodied soul 

* Which has the advantage of Dean Milman's translation synoptically exhibited. 

f It also combines a strong tinge of the Sankhya philosophy. 

% I do not pretend to have translated this passage as poetically as Dean Milman, 
although I am indebted to him for some expressions. My only reason for retranslating 
is that I may give a more literal version. 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 33 

In this corporeal frame moves swiftly on through boyhood, youth, and age, 

So will it pass through other forms hereafter — be not grieved thereat. 

The man whom pain and pleasure, heat and cold affect not, he is fit 

For immortality : that which is not cannot be — and that which is 

Can never cease to be. Know this ; — the Being that spread this universe 

Is indestructible ; who can destroy the Indestructible % 

These bodies that enclose the everlasting soul, inscrutable, 

Immortal, have an end — but he who thinks the soul can be destroyed, 

And he who deems it a destroyer, are alike mistaken : it 

Kills not, and is not killed; it is not born, nor doth it ever die; 

It has no past nor future — unproduced, unchanging, infinite : he 

Who knows it fixed, unborn, imperishable, indissoluble, 

How can that man destroy another, or extinguish aught below'? 

As men abandon old and threadbare clothes to put on others new, 

So casts the embodied soul its worn out frame to enter other forms. 

No dart can pierce it ; flame cannot consume it, water wet it not, 

Nor scorching breezes dry it : indestructible, incapable 

Of heat or moisture or aridity — eternal, all-pervading, 

Steadfast, immoveable ; perpetual, yet imperceptible, 

Incomprehensible, unfading, deathless, unimaginable. 

There is a touching episode, full of true poetic feeling, in the first 
book of the Maha-bharata (i^di-parva, 6104), usually known as 'the 
Brahman's lament/ but called in the original Baka-badha*. The story 
is briefly as follows. In the neighbourhood of Ekachakra, a town in 
which the Pandavas had taken refuge after the treacherous attempt of 
their cousins to destroy them by setting fire to their dwelling, resided 
a fierce giant, named Baka, who forced the citizens to send him every 
day a dish of food by a man, whom he always devoured as his daintiest 
morsel at the end of the repast. The turn had come to a poor Brah- 
man to provide the Rakshasa with his meal. He determines to go 
himself, but laments bitterly the hardness of his fate. Upon this, his 
wife and daughter address him in language full of the deepest pathos, 
each in turn insisting on sacrificing herself for the good of the family. 

* This episode, as well as that noticed next, has been printed by Bopp, and trans- 
lated by Milman ; I therefore confine myself to a brief outline. 

F 



34 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

Lastly, the little son, too young to speak distinctly, with beaming eyes 
and smiling face, runs to his parents, and with prattling voice says, 
4 Weep not, father, sigh not, mother/ Then breaking off and brandish- 
ing a pointed spike of grass, he adds in childish accents, 'With this 
spike will I slay the fierce man-eating giant/ (I. 6203.) His parents 
(so proceeds the story), hearing this innocent prattle of their child, in 
the midst of their heart-rending anguish felt a thrill of exquisite delight. 
The end of it is that Bhima, who overhears the whole conversation, 
undertakes to convey the meal to the monster, and, of course, speedily 
despatches him. 

The next episode I select is one (from the Vana-parva} illustrating 
in a striking manner the wide diffusion of the tradition of the Deluge. 
Manu, the Noah of the Hindus (not the grandson of Brahma, and 
reputed author of the Code, but the seventh Manu, or Manu of the 
present period, called Vaivaswata, and regarded as one of the progenitors 
of the human race ; see Manu I. 61, 62), is represented as conciliating 
the favour of the Supreme by his penances in an age of universal de- 
pravity. The earliest account of him is in the S'atapatha Brahmana 
(attached to the Vajasaneyi Sanhita of the Yajur-veda, Adhy. I. vhi. 1. 1). 
It is so interesting to compare the simple narrative of this ancient work 
(which represents the tradition of the flood as it existed in India many 
centuries B.C., perhaps not much later than the time of David) with 
the poetical embellishments of the epic version, that I commence by 
translating an extract from the Brahmana, as literally as I can. 

" It happened one morning that they brought water to Manu, as 
usual, for washing his hands. As he was washing, a fish came into 
his hands. It spake to him thus : ' Take care of me, and I will pre- 
serve thee/ Manu asked, ' From what wilt thou preserve me?' The 
fish answered, ' A flood will carry away all living beings ; I will save 
thee from that/ He said, ' How is thy preservation to be accom- 
plished V The fish replied, ' While we are small, we are liable to con- 
stant destruction, and even one fish devours another : thou must first 
preserve me in an earthen vessel ; when I grow too large for that, 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 35 

dig a trench, and keep me in that. When I grow too large for that, 
thou must convey me to the ocean ; I shall then be beyond the risk of 
destruction/ So saying, it rapidly became a great fish, and still grew 
larger and larger. Then it said, 'After so many years, the deluge will 
take place ; then construct a ship, and pay me homage, and when the 
waters rise, go into the ship, and I will rescue thee.' Manu therefore, 
after preserving the fish as he was directed, bore it to the ocean ; and 
at the very time the fish had declared he built a ship, and did homage 
to the fish. When the flood rose he embarked in the ship, and the 
fish swam towards him, and he fastened the ship's cable to its horn. 
By its means he passed beyond this northern mountain. The fish then 
said, ' I have preserved thee ; now do thou fasten the ship to a tree. 
But let not the water sink from under thee while thou art on the 
mountain. As fast as it sinks, so fast do thou go down with it.' He 
therefore so descended; and this was the manner of Manu's descent 
from the northern mountain. The flood had carried away all living 
creatures. Manu alone was left. Wishing for offspring, he diligently 
performed a sacrifice. In a year's time a female was produced *. She 
came to Manu. He said to her, ' Who art thou ?' She answered, 
* Thy daughter.' He asked, ' How, lady, art thou my daughter?' 
She replied, ' The oblations which thou didst offer in the waters, viz. 
clarified butter, thick milk, whey and curds ; from these hast thou 
begotten me. I can confer blessings.' With her he laboriously per- 
formed another sacrifice, desirous of children. By her he had offspring, 
called the offspring of Manu; and whatever blessings he prayed for 
were all granted to himf." 

In the Maha-bharata account (Vana-parva, 12746— 12S04) the fish, 
which is an incarnation of Brahma, appears to Manu whilst engaged in 
penance on the margin of a river, and accosting him craves his pro- 
tection from the larger fish. Manu complies, and places him in a glass 

* I omit a portion here. 

t After making my own translation 1 have consulted those made by Dr. Mnir in his 
Sanskrit Texts, and Prut". Max Midler in his History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature 

1 : 



36 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

vessel, which he soon outgrows, and requests to be taken to a more 
roomy receptacle. Manu then places him in a lake. Still the fish 
grew, till the lake, though three leagues long, could not contain him. 
He next asks to be taken to the Ganges ; but even the Ganges was 
soon too small, and the fish is finally transferred to the ocean. There 
the monster continues to expand, till at last, addressing Manu, he warns 
him of the coming deluge. 

Manu, however, is to be preserved by the help of the fish, who 
commands him to build a ship and go on board, not with his own wife 
and children, but with the seven Kishis or patriarchs ; and not with 
pairs of animals, but with the seeds of all existing things. The flood 
comes; Manu goes on board, and fastens the ship, as he is directed, 
to a horn in the head of the fish. He is then drawn along * — 

Along the ocean in that stately ship was borne the lord of men, and through 

Its dancing, tumbling billows, and its roaring waters ; and the bark, 

Tossed to and fro by violent winds, reeled on the surface of the deep, 

Staggering and trembling like a drunken woman : land was seen no more, 

Nor far horizon, nor the space between ; for every where around 

Spread the wild waste of waters, reeking atmosphere, and boundless sky. 

And now when all the world was deluged, nought appeared above the waves 

But Manu and the seven sages, and the fish that drew the bark. 

Unwearied thus for years on years that fish propelled the ship across 

The heaped-up waters, till at length it bore the vessel to the peak 

Of Himavan ; then softly smiling thus the fish addressed the sage : 

" Haste now to hind thy ship to this high crag. Know me the lord of all, 

The great creator Brahma, mightier than all might — omnipotent. 

By me in fish-like shape have you been saved in dire emergency. 

From Manu all creation, gods, asuras, men, must be produced; 

By him the world must be created, that which moves and moveth not." 

I now leave this interesting episode with the remark that there is 
still a later account of the deluge in the Bhagavata-Purana, where the 
fish is represented as an incarnation of Vishnu. 

* I have preferred to translate this in metre. Dr. Muir (II. p. 331) gives a still 
more literal prose version, and some valuable remarks on the whole subject. 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 37 

The only other specimen I propose giving is a brief epitome of the 
story of Savitri and Satyavan (from the Vana-parva, 1. 16619, &c), 
which, for true poetic feeling and pathos, is not excelled by that of 
Admetus and Alcestis. 

Savitri, the lovely daughter of a king Aswapati, loves Satyavan, the 
son of an old hermit, but is warned by a seer to overcome her attach- 
ment, as Satyavan is a doomed man, having only one year to live. 
But Savitri replies * — 

Whether his years be few or many, be he gifted with all grace 

Or graceless, him my heart hath chosen, and it chooseth not again. 

The king's daughter and the hermit's son are therefore married, and 
the bride strives to forget the ominous prophecy ; but as the last day 
of the year approaches her anxiety becomes irrepressible. She ex- 
hausts herself in prayers and penances, hoping to stay the hand of the 
destroyer ; yet all the while dares not reveal the fatal secret to her 
husband. At last the dreaded day arrives, and Satyavan sets out to 
cut wood in the forest. His wife asks leave to accompany him, and 
walks behind her husband smiling, but with a heavy heart. Satyavan 
soon makes the wood resound with his hatchet, when suddenly through 
his temples shoots a thrill of agony, and feeling himself falling he calls 
out to his wife to support him. 

Then she received her fainting husband in her arms, and sate herself 
On the cold ground, and gently laid his drooping head upon her lap ; 
Sorrowing, she call'd to mind the sage's prophecy, and reckoned up 
The days and hours. All in an instant she beheld an awful shape 
Standing before her, dressed in blood-red garments, with a glittering crown 
Upon his head : his form, though glowing like the sun, was yet obscure, 
And eyes he had like flames, a noose depended from his hand ; and he 
Was terrible to look upon, as by her husband's side he stood 
And gazed upon him with a fiery glance. Shuddering she started up 
And laid her dying Satyavan upon the ground, and with her hands 

* I translate as closely as I can to the original. This and other select specimens of 
Indian poetry have been more freely translated in rhyme by Mr. Griffiths, ami 1 there- 
fore limit myself to a brief outline. 



38 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

Joined reverently, she thus with beating heart addressed the Shape : 
Surely thou art a god, such form as thine must more than mortal be. 
Tell me, thou godlike being, who thou art, and wherefore art thou here 1 

The figure replies that he is Yama, king of death ; that her husband's 
time is come, and that he must bind and take his spirit. 

Then from her husband's body forced he out and firmly with his cord 
Bound and detained the spirit, like in size and length to a man's thumb *. 
Forthwith the body, reft of vital being and deprived of breath, 
Lost all its grace and beauty, and became ghastly and motionless. 

After binding the spirit, Yama proceeds with it towards his own quar- 
ter, the south. The faithful wife follows him closely. Yama bids her 
go home and prepare her husband's funeral rites ; but she persists in 
following, till Yama, pleased with her devotion, grants her any boon 
she pleases, except the life of her husband. She chooses that her 
husband's father, who is blind, may recover his sight. Yama consents, 
and bids her now return home. Still she persists in following. Two 
other boons are granted in the same way, and still Savitri follows 
closely on the heels of the king of death. At last, overcome by her 

* According to Carey, the Hindus believe that the spirit after death (preta) remains 
floating about in the atmosphere in the form of air, without support, until ten s'raddhas 
or funeral ceremonies are performed; when it obtains the preta-sarira (also called 
ativdhika), or misery-enduring body, which is a receptacle about the size of a thumb. 
The present rule is that the body be burnt on the day of death ; after which for ten 
days, during the dasa-pinda-sraddha, the relations are supposed to be mourning and 
in a state of as'aucha or impurity, so that no one can communicate with them, the 
soul of the deceased being daily fed with libations of water (tarpana) and cakes (pinda) 
of rice mixed with milk, &c. On the eleventh day the ekadas'i is performed, when 
the period of uncleanness ceases. These sraddhas are repeated once a month for a 
year ; and on the anniversary of death the sapindana is performed, when the soul 
enters the divya-s'arira or bhoga-deha, that is, the vehicle in which it enjoys or suffers 
the reward of its actions. If a person die at Gaya, or other holy place, the soul 
departs to bliss without the discipline of the preta-sarira. When the soul has entered 
the divya-s'arira it is considered a pitri; the deceased is then associated with his 
progenitors, and all future offerings are called pitri-kriya. See Carey's Ramayana, 
vol. III. p. 72. 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 39 

constancy, Yama grants a boon without exception. The delighted Savitri 
exclaims — 

" Nought, mighty king, this time hast thou excepted : let my husband live : 
Without him I desire not happiness, nor even heaven itself; 
Without him I must die." " So be it ! faithful wife," replied the king of death ; 
"Thus I release him;" and with that he loosed the cord that bound his soul. 

The whole story, of which I have merely given the briefest outline, 
will, if read in the original, well repay the reader for the labour of his 
Sanskrit studies. 

I have already stated that the episodes of the Maha-bharata occupy 
more than three-fourths of the whole poem. It is in fact not one 
poem, but a compilation of many poems ; not a Kdvya by one author, 
but an Itihdsa by many authors. This is one great distinctive feature 
in comparing it with the Ramayana. In both epics there is a leading 
story, about which are collected a multitude of other stories; but in 
the Maha-bharata the main narrative only acts as a slender thread to 
connect a vast mass of independent legends together; while in the 
Ramayana the episodes, though numerous, never break the solid chain 
of one principal and paramount subject, which is ever kept in view. 

It should be remembered that the tw T o epics belong to different periods 
and different localities. Not only was the Maha-bharata composed later 
than the Ramayana, parts of it being comparatively modern, but the 
places which gave birth to the two poems are distinct. It is well known 
that in India different customs and opinions frequently prevail in dis- 
tricts almost adjacent ; and it is certain that Brahmanism never gained 
the ascendancy in the more martial north which it acquired in the 
neighbourhood of Oude. Each poem therefore, though often running 
parallel to the other, has yet a distinct point of departure ; and the 
Maha-bharata, as it became current in various localities, diverged more 
widely from the straight course than its elder sister. In fact, the Maha- 
bharata presents a complete circle of post-Vedic mythology, including 
many myths which have their germ in the Veda, and continually enlarging 
its circumference to embrace the later phases of Hinduism, with its whole 



40 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

train of confused and conflicting legends*. From this storehouse are 
drawn all the Puranas, and many of the more recent heroic poems and 
dramas. Here we have repeated many of the legends of the Ramayana, 
and even the history of Rama himself f. Here also are most of the nar- 
ratives of the incarnation of Vishnu, numberless stories connected with 
the worship of S'iva, and various details of the life of Krishna. Those 
which especially bear on the modern worship of Krishna are contained in 
the supplement called Hari-vans'a, which is itself a long poem, longer than 
the Iliad and Odyssey combined J. Hence the religious system of the Maha- 
bharata is far more popular, liberal, and comprehensive than that of the 
Ramayana. It is true that the god Vishnu is connected with Krishna 
in the Maha-bharata, as he is with Rama in the Ramayana, but in the 
latter Rama is every thing; whereas in the Maha-bharata, Krishna is 
by no means the centre of the system. His divinity is even occasionally 
disputed ||. The five Pandavas have also partially divine natures, and 

* It should be noted, that not only is the germ of many of the legends of Hindu 
epic poetry to be found in the Rig-veda, but that epic poetry itself is there adumbrated 
in hymns and songs laudatory of Indra and other gods who were supposed to protect 
the Arya races from the Anaryas. It should also be observed that the same legend is 
sometimes repeated in different parts of the Maha-bharata, with considerable varia- 
tions ; as, for example, the story of the combat of Indra, the god of air and thunder, 
with the demon Vyitra, who represents ' enveloping clouds and vapour.' See Vana- 
parva, 8690 et seq.; and compare with Santi-parva, 10124 et seq. Compare also the 
story of the ' Hawk and Pigeon,' Vana-parva, 10558, with Anusasana-parva, 2046. 

t Ramopakhyana, book III. (15913); and again alluded to in Drona-parva (2224). 
The story of Rama is one of those stock-subjects of Indian literature, which, from its 
sacredness, is so dear to popular reminiscences, that Sanskrit poets are never tired of 
repeating it. Bhavabhuti has dramatized it in the Vira-charitra and Uttara-Rama- 
charitra : and other dramatists have done the same, just as Greek poets dramatized 
the Homeric narratives. The story is still acted every year in districts near the modern 
Oude. 

X The Hari-vansa bears to the Maha-bharata a relation very similar to that which 
the Uttara-kanda, or last book of the Ramayana, bears to the preceding books of 
that poem. The Iliad and Odyssey together contain about 30,000 lines. 

|| As by S'is'upala and others. See Muir's Sanskrit Texts, vol. IV. p. 151. 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 41 

by turns become prominent. Sometimes Arjuna, sometimes Yudhish- 
thira, at others Bhima, appears to be the principal orb round which 
the plot moves *. Moreover in various passages Siva is described as 
supreme, and receives worship from Krishna. In others, Krishna is 
exalted above all, and receives honour from Siva f- In fact, while the 
Ramayana generally represents one-sided and exclusive Brahmanism J, 
the Maha-bharata reflects the multilateral character of Hinduism; its 
monotheism and polytheism, its spirituality and materialism, its strict- 
ness and laxity, its priestcraft and anti -priestcraft, its hierarchical into- 
lerance and free-thinking philosophy, combined. Not that there was 
any intentional variety in the original design of the work, but that almost 
every shade of opinion found expression in a compilation formed by 
gradual accretion through a long period. 

In unison with its more secular, popular, and human character, the 
Maha-bharata has less of mere mythical allegory, and more of histo- 
rical probability in its narratives than the Ramayana. Hence also it 
contains many more illustrations of domestic and social life and man- 
ners than the more ancient epic. Its diction again is more varied than 
that of the Ramayana. The bulk of the latter poem (notwithstanding 
interpolations and additions) being by one author, is written with uni- 
form simplicity ; and the antiquity of the greater part is proved by the 
absence of studied elaboration, and the use of occasional irregular forms 
of grammar. The Maha-bharata, on the other hand, though generally 
simple and natural in its language, and free from the conceits and arti- 
ficial constructions of later writers, comprehends a greater diversity of 
composition, rising sometimes (especially when the Indravajra metre is 

* In this respect the Maha-bharata resembles the Iliad. Achilles can scarcely be 
regarded as its hero. Other warriors too much divide the interest with him. 

t In the Bhagavad-gita Krishna is not merely an incarnation of Vishnu ; he is 
identified with Brahma, the supreme spirit. It is well known that in Homer the su- 
premacy of one god (Jove), and due subordination of the other deities, is maintained. 

X Some free thought, however, has found its way into the Ramayana ; sec II. cviii 
(Schl.) ; VI. lxii. 15 (Goit.) ; VI. lxxxiii. 14 (Calc. edit.). 

G 



42 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

employed) to the higher style, and using not only loose and irregular, 
but also studiously complex grammatical forms*. 

In contrasting the two Indian poems with the Iliad and the Odyssey, 
we may observe many points of similarity. Some parallel passages have 
been already pointed out, and others will be noted in the analysis at the 
end of this book. We must of course expect to find the distinctive 
genius of, two very different people in widely distant localities, colouring 
their epic poetry very differently, notwithstanding general features of 
resemblance. Though the Ramayana and Maha-bharata are no less won- 
derful than the Homeric poems as monuments of the human mind, and 
no less interesting as pictures of human life and manners in ancient 
times, they bear in a remarkable degree that peculiar impress ever 
stamped on the productions of Asiatic nations, and separating them from 
European. On the side of art and harmony of proportion, they can no 
more compete with the Iliad and the Odyssey than the unnatural out- 
line of the ten-headed and twenty-armed Ravana can bear comparison 
with the symmetry of a Grecian statue. While the one commends itself 
to the most refined classical taste, the other by its exaggerations only 
excites the wonder of the Asiatic mind, or if attractive to the European, 
can only please an imagination nursed in an Oriental school. 

Thus, in the Iliad, time, space, and action are all restricted within 
the narrowest limits. In the Odyssey they are allowed a wider though 
not too wide a cycle ; but in the Ramayana and Maha-bharata their 
range is almost unbounded. The Ramayana, as it traces the life of a 
single individual with tolerable continuity, is in this respect more like 
the Odyssey than the Iliad. In other points, especially in its plot, 
the greater simplicity of its style, and its comparative freedom from 
irrelevant episodes, it more resembles the Iliad. There are many 
graphic passages in both the Ramayana and Maha-bharata which, for 
beauty of description, cannot be surpassed by any thing in Homer. It 

* The use of irregular grammatical forms is sometimes due to the exigency of the 
metre : thus, parinaydmdsa for parindyaydmdsa, md bhaih for md bhaishih : but not 
always ; thus vyavasishydmi is used where the metre would admit of vyavasdsydmi. 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 43 

should be observed, however, that the diction of the Indian epics is 
more polished, regular, and cultivated, and the language altogether in a 
more advanced stage of development* than that of Homer. This, of 
course, tells to the disadvantage of the style on the side of nervous force 
and vigour; and it must be admitted that in the Sanskrit poems there is 
a great redundance of epithets, too liberal a use of metaphor, simile, and 
hyperbole, and far too much repetition, amplification, and prolixity. 

Let the reader of these poems, however, bear in mind, that Oriental 
compositions must not be judged from an exclusively European point 
of view. In the eyes of a Hindu, quality is nothing without quantity ; 
and even quantity does not commend itself to the taste, unless sea- 
soned with exaggeration. The reader's appreciation of many passages 
will depend upon his familiarity with Indian mythology, as well as with 
Oriental customs, scenery, and even the habits and appearances of the 
animal creation in the East. Most of the similes in Hindu epic poetry 
are taken from the motions of Asiatic animals, such as elephants and 
tigers t, or from peculiarities in the aspect of Indian plants and natural 
objects. Then, as to the description of scenery, in which Hindu poets 
are certainly more graphic and picturesque than either Greek or Latin J, 

* An interval of many centuries must have separated the language of the Indian 
epics from that of the Rig-veda. A comparison of diction would, I think, lead us to 
place the Ramayana very close to Manu, if not to make these works nearly contem- 
poraneous. 

t Thus any eminent or courageous person would be spoken of as ' a tiger of a man.' 
Other favourite animals in similes are the Hon (sinha), the ruddy goose (chakravdka 
or rathdnga), the buffalo (mahisha), the boar (vardha), the koi'l or Indian cuckoo (ko- 
kila), the heron (kraiaicha), the ox (gavaya, i. e. bos gavmis), &c. &c. It should be 
noted, however, that similes in the Indian epics, though far too frequent (see p. 25 of 
this book), are generally confined to a few words, and not, as in Homer, drawn out 
for three or four lines. 

X The descriptions of scenery and natural objects in Homer are too short and gene- 
ral to be really picturesque. They want more colouring and minuteness of detail. 
Twining accounts for this by observing that the Greek poets were not accustomed to 
look upon nature with a painter's eye. (Poetics, p. 4^.) 

(; 2 



44 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

the whole appearance of external nature in the East, the exube- 
rance of vegetation, the profusion of trees and fruits and flowers*, the 
glare of burning skies, the freshness of the rainy season, the fury of 
storms, the serenity of Indian moonlight f, and the gigantic mould in 
which natural objects are generally cast — these and many other features 
are difficult to be realized by a European. We must also make allow- 
ance for the difference in eastern manners ; though, after conceding a 
wide margin in this direction, it must be confessed that the disregard 
of all delicacy in laying bare the most revolting particulars of certain 
ancient legends which we now and then encounter in the Indian epics 
(especially in the Maha-bharata) is a serious blot, and one which never 
disfigures the pages of Homer, notwithstanding his occasional freedom 
of expression. Yet there are not wanting indications in the Indian epics 
of a higher degree of civilization than that represented in the Homeric 
poems. The battle-fields of the Ramayana and Maha-bharata, though 
abounding in childish exaggerations, are not made barbarous by wanton 
cruelties J ; and the descriptions of Ayodhya and Lanka imply far greater 
luxury and refinement than those of Sparta and Troy. 

The constant interruption of the principal story (as before described) 
by tedious episodes, in both Ramayana and Maha-bharata, added to 
the rambling prolixity of the story itself, will always be regarded as 
the chief drawback in Hindu epic poetry, and constitutes one of the 

* The immense profusion of flowers of all kinds is indicated by the number of 
botanical terms in a Sanskrit dictionary. Some of the most common flowers and 
trees alluded to in epic poetry are, the chuta or mango ; the as'oka (described by Sir 
William Jones) ; the kins'uka (butea frondosa, with beautiful red blossoms); the tama- 
rind (amlika) ; the jasmine (of which there are many varieties, such as malati, jati, 
yuthika, &c.) ; the kuruvaka (amaranth) ; the sandal (chandana) ; the jujube (kar- 
kandhu) ; the pomegranate (dadima) ; the kadamba (nipa) ; the tamarisk (pichula) ; 
the vakula, karnikara, s'ringata, &c. 

f There is a beautiful description of night in Ramayana (Gorr.) I. xxxvi. 15, &c. 

% There is something savage in Achilles' treatment of Hector ; and the cruelties 
permitted by Ulysses, in the 2 2d book of the Odyssey, are almost revolting. Com- 
pare with these Rama's treatment of his fallen foe Ravana, in the Yuddha-kanda. 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 45 

most marked features of distinction between it and the Greek. Even 
in this respect, however, the Iliad has not escaped the censure of critics. 
Many believe that this poem is the result of the fusion of different 
songs on one subject, long current in various localities, intermixed with 
later interpolations, something after the manner of the Maha-bharata. 
But the artistic instincts of the Greeks required that all the parts and 
appendages and more recent additions should be blended into one com- 
pact, homogeneous, and symmetrical whole. Although we have cer- 
tainly in Homer occasional digressions or parentheses, such as the 
description of the e shield of Achilles/ the ' story of Venus and Mars/ 
these are not like the Indian episodes. If not absolutely essential to 
the completeness of the epic conception, they appear to arise naturally 
out of the business of the plot, and cause no violent disruption of its 
unity. With eastern writers and compilers of legendary narratives, 
continuity was often designedly interrupted. They preferred to string 
together a number of distinct stories, like detached figures on a running 
frieze, rather than combine them into one harmonious outline, like the 
finished group on a medallion. They even purposely broke the sequence 
of each story; so that before one was ended another was commenced, 
and ere this was completed, others were interwoven ; the result being a 
curious intertwining of stories within stories, the slender thread of an 
original narrative running through them all. A familiar instance of this 
is afforded by the ' Arabian Nights/ and by the well-known collection of 
tales called e HitopadesV (known in Europe as Pilpay^s Fables) ; and the 
same tendency is observable in the composition of their epic poems — 
far more, however, in the Maha-bharata than in the Ramayana. 

Passing on to a comparison of the plot and the personages of the 
Ramayana with those of the Iliad, — without supposing, as some have 
done, that either poem has been imitated from the other, it is certainly 
true, and so far remarkable, that the subject of both is a war under- 
taken to recover the wife of one of the warriors, carried off by a hero 
on the other side ; and that Rama, in this respect, corresponds to Mene- 
laus, Sita to Helen, Sparta to Ayodhya, Lanka to Troy. It may even 



46 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 



be true that some sort of analogy may be traced between the part 
played by Agamemnon and Sugriva, Patroclus and Lakshmana, Nestor 
and Jambavat *, Again, Ulysses f, in one respect, may be compared 
to Hanumat; and Hector, as the bravest warrior on the Trojan side, 
may in some points be likened to Indrajit, in others to the indignant 
Vibhishana J. Other resemblances will be pointed out in the analysis; 
but these comparisons cannot be carried out to any extent without 
encountering difficulties at every step. Rama's character has really 
nothing in common with that of Menelaus, and very little with that of 
Achilles ; although, as the bravest and most powerful of the warriors, he 
is rather to be compared with the latter than the former hero. If in his 
anger he is occasionally Achillean, his whole nature is cast in a higher 
and less human mould than that of the Grecian hero. Sita also rises 
in character far above Helen, and even above Penelope ||, both in her 
sublime devotion and loyalty to her husband, and her indomitable 
patience and endurance under suffering and temptation. As for Bha- 
rata and Lakshmana, they are models of fraternal duty ; Kaus'alya of 
maternal tenderness ; Dasaratha of paternal love : and it may be affirmed 
generally that the whole moral tone of the Ramayana is certainly above 
that of the Iliad. Again, in the Iliad the subject is really the anger 
of Achilles ; and when that is satisfied the drama closes. The fall of 
Troy is not considered necessary to the completion of the plot. Whereas 

* Jambavat was the chief of the bears, who was always giving sage advice. 

t When any work had to be done which required peculiar skill or stratagem, it 
was entrusted to 7ro\vnr)Tis 'Odvcro-evs. 

% Hector, like Vibhishana, was indignant with the ravisher, but he does not refuse 
to fight on his brother's side. It is on the strength of these analogies that M. Hip- 
polyte Fauche, in the preface to his very commendable French translation of the 
Ramayana, concludes that the Ramayana was composed before the Homeric poems, 
and that Homer took his ideas from it. It is almost needless to say that this opinion 
appears to me wholly untenable. 

|| One cannot help suspecting Penelope of giving way to a little womanly vanity in 
allowing herself to be surrounded by so many suitors, though she repudiated their 
advances. 



ts 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 47 

in the Ramayana the whole action points to the capture of Lanka and 
destruction of the ravisher. No one too can read either the Ramayana 
or Maha-bharata without feeling that they rise above the Homeric poems 
in this — that a deep religious meaning appears to underlie all the nar- 
rative, and that the wildest allegory may be intended to conceal a sublime 
moral; symbolizing the conflict between good and evil, and teaching 
the hopelessness of victory in so terrible a contest without purity of 
soul, self-abnegation, and the subjugation of the passions. 

As to any parallel between the mythology of the epics of India and 
Europe — it is well known that Indra and Siva offer points of analogy 
to Jupiter*; Durga or Parvati to Juno; Krishna to Apollo; Rati to 
Venus t; Sri to Ceres; Prithivi to Cybele ; Varuna to Neptune^ and, 
in his earlier character, to Uranus ; Saraswati to Minerva ; Kartikeya 
or Skanda to Mars J; Yama to Pluto; Kuvera to Plutus ; Vis'wakarma 
to Vulcan ; Kama to Cupid ; Narada to Mercury || ; Ushas, and in the 
later mythology Aruna, to Aurora ; Vayu to ^Eolus ; Ganes'a to Janus ; 
the As'wini-kumaras§ to the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux; Vaitarani to 
Styx ; Kailasa and Meru to Ida and Olympus. 

* Indra is always the Dyu-pati or Dyaush-pitar (Diespiter), who sends rain and 
wields the thunderbolt, and in the earlier mythology is the chief of the gods, like 
Zeus. Subsequently his worship was superseded by that of Krishna and S'iva. 

t In one or two points Lakshmi may be compared to Venus. 

X It is curious that Kartikeya, the war-god, is represented in Hindu mythology 
as the god of thieves. (See Mrichchhakati, Act III.) Indian thieves displayed and 
still display such skill and ingenuity, that a god like Mercury would appear to be a 
more appropriate patron. Kartikeya was the son of S'iva, just as Mars was the off- 
spring of Jupiter. 

|| As Mercury was the inventor of the lyre, so Narada was of the vina or lute. 

§ These ever-youthful twin sons of the Sun, by his wife Sanjna, who was trans- 
formed into a mare (as'wini), are very similar to the classical Dioscuri, belonging to 
heroic mythology, both by their exploits and the aid they render to their worshippers 
against their enemies. They are constantly, however, introduced in the Rig-veda, 
where they are connected with the sun, and may typify the two luminous points which 
precede the dawn, or perhaps the morning and evening star. 



48 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

Yet in reality it is the mythology of the Indian poems that consti- 
tutes one of the principal features of contrast in comparing them with 
the Homeric. We cannot of course do more than indicate here the bare 
outlines of so wide and so interesting a subject as that of a comparative 
estimate of the mythologies of India and Greece. It need scarcely be 
pointed out that such comparison should begin with the Veda, and not 
with the epic poems. A careful study of the Vedic records proves 
beyond a doubt that the source of Asiatic and European mythologies is 
the same, just as the origin of Indo-European races is the same. In 
that primeval country, where the ancestors of Greeks and Hindus had 
their common home, men satisfied their first religious instincts by 
idealizing, personifying, and worshipping the principal powers and ener- 
gies of nature — the wind, the storm, the fire, the sun — the elements 
on which, as an agricultural and pastoral race, their welfare depended. 
This was the simple religion of nature which the Aryan family carried 
with them when they separated, and which they cherished in their 
wanderings ; and in this we must trace the germ of their subsequent 
mythological systems*. Once settled down in their new resting-places, 
simple elemental worship no longer satisfied the religious cravings of 
these giant-races, awaking to a consciousness of nascent national life. 
A richly peopled mythology arose in India and Greece as naturally as 
epic poetry itself. The one was the offspring of the other, and was in 
fact the mere poetical expression of those high aspirations which marked 
the Aryan character. Religious ideas — a sense of dependence on a 
higher Power, and a desire to realize his presence — grew with their 
growth and strengthened with their strength. Soon the Hindu, like 
the Greek, unguided by direct revelation, personified, deified, and wor- 
shipped not only the powers exhibited in external nature, but all the 
internal feelings, passions, moral and intellectual qualities and faculties 
of the mind. Soon he began to regard every grand or useful object as 

* In a paper just published by Mr. C. Bruce, an ancient Homeric hymn to the 
Earth is shown to resemble strikingly a hymn in the Atharva-veda. 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 49 

a mere visible manifestation of the supreme Providence presiding over 
the universe, and every departed hero or deceased benefactor as a mere 
incarnation of the same all- wise and omnipresent Ruler. Then, to give 
expression to the varied attributes and functions of this great Being, 
thus visibly manifested to the world, both Hindu and Greek peopled 
their pantheons with numerous divine and semi-divine creations, cloth- 
ing them with male and female forms, and inventing in connexion with 
them various fanciful myths, fables, and allegories, which the undis- 
criminating multitude accepted as realities, without at all understanding 
the ideas they symbolized. 

But in Greece, mythology, which was in many respects fully sys- 
tematized when the Homeric poems were composed *, never passed 
certain limits, or outgrew (so to speak) a certain symmetry of outline. 
In the Iliad and the Odyssey, a god is little more than idealized hu- 
manity. His form and his actions are seldom out of keeping with this 
character. Hindu mythology, on the other hand, springing from the 
same source as that of Europe, but, spreading and ramifying with the 
rank luxuriance of an Indian forest, speedily outgrew all harmony of 
proportions, and surrounded itself with an intricate and impenetrable 
undergrowth of monstrous and confused allegory. Doubtless the gods of 
the Indian and Grecian epics preserve some traces of their common origin, 
resembling each other in various ways ; interfering in human concerns, 
exhibiting human infirmities, taking part in the battles of their favourite 
heroes, furnishing them with celestial arms, or interposing directly to 
protect them. But even in the Ramayana, where Hindu mythology may 
be regarded as not fully developed, the shape and operations of divine 
and semi-divine beings are generally suggestive of the monstrous, the 

* Herodotus says (Euterpe, 53) that" Homer and Hesiod framed the Greek Theo- 
gony, gave distinctive names to the gods, distributed functions to them, and described 
their forms." I conclude that by the verb noiclv, Herodotus did not mean to imply 
that Homer invented the myths. At any rate, the received opinion I apprehend to be 
that Homer merely gave system to a mythology already current. 

H 



50 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

frightful^ the hideous, and the incredible * : the deeds of its heroes, 
who are themselves half-gods, transport the imagination into the region 
of the wildest chimaera; and a whole pantheon presents itself, teeming 
with grotesque and unwieldy symbols, with horrible creations, half- 
animals half-gods, with man-eating ogres f, many-headed giants and 
disgusting demons, to an extent which the refined and delicate sensi- 
bilities of the Greeks and Romans could not have tolerated J. 

Moreover, in the Indian epics the boundaries between the natural 
and supernatural, between earth and heaven, between the divine, human, 
and even animal creations, are singularly vague and undefined; troops 

* The human form, however idealized, was seldom thought adequate to the ex- 
pression of divine attributes. Brahma is four-faced, S'iva three-eyed and sometimes 
five-headed ; Indra has a thousand eyes, Kartikeya six faces, Ravana ten heads, &c. ; 
and it is very unusual to find a Hindu god with a limited number of arms. 

t It is true that Homer now and then indulges in monstrous creations ; but even 
the description of Polyphemus does not outrage all probability, like the exaggerated 
horrors of the demon Kabandha, in the 3d book of the Ramayana. 

X This difference in the mythology becomes still more deserving of note, when it is 
borne in mind that the wildest fictions of the Ramayana and Maha-bharata are to 
this very day intimately bound up with the creed of the Hindus. It is probable that 
the more educated Hindus, like the more refined Greeks and Romans, regarded and 
still regard the fictions of mythology as allegorical or symbolical; but in Europe 
and Asia the mass of the people, not understanding symbols, or troubling themselves 
about the mystical significance of allegories, took these fictions for real stories, and 
accepted every thing in its literal and immediate meaning. Among European nations, 
however, even the ductile faith of the masses was sufficiently controlled by reason 
and common sense to prevent the poetry of religious men from attempting any great 
extravagance of allegory ; and much as the Homeric poems are still admired, no one 
in any part of the world now dreams of placing the slightest faith in their legends, so 
as to connect them with religious opinions and practices. But the wildest mytho- 
logical inventions of the Indian epics are still closely interwoven with present faith. 
In fact, the capacity of an uneducated Hindu for believing the grossest absurdities, 
and accepting the most monstrous fictions as realities, is apparently unlimited. Even 
a decent approximation to the actualities of real life is too insipid for his glowing 
imagination. Hence the absence of all history in the literature of India. A plain 
relation of facts has no charm whatever. 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 51 

of deities and semi-divine personages appear on the stage on every 
occasion; gods, men, and animals are ever changing places*. In fact, 
it is not merely in a confused, exaggerated, and overgrown mythology 
that the difference between the Indian and Grecian epics lies. It is in 
the injudicious and excessive use of it, and the forced obtrusion of the 
wild ideas and doctrines connected with a boundless religious faith. In 
the Ramayana and Maha-bharata, the spiritual and the supernatural 
are every where so dominant and overpowering, that any thing merely 
human seems altogether out of place. In the Iliad and the Odyssey, 
the religious and supernatural element are perhaps scarcely less pre- 
valent. The gods are continually interposing and superintending; but 
they do so as if they were themselves little removed from men, or at 
least without destroying the dramatic probability of the poem, or neu- 
tralizing its general air of plain matter-of-fact humanity. Again, granted 
that in Homer there is frequent mention of the future existence of the 
soul, and its condition of happiness or misery hereafter, and that the 
Homeric descriptions of disembodied spirits correspond in many points 
with the Hindu notions on the same subject f — yet even these doctrines 
do not stand out with such exaggerated reality in Homer as to make 
human concerns appear unreal ; nor is there in his poems the slightest 
allusion to the soul's pre-existence in a former body, and its liability to 

* Animals figure to a certain extent in Grecian mythology, and arrogate human 
functions. Thus Homer makes Xanthus, the horse of Achilles, speak in a human 
voice and warn him of his fate (II. XIX. 404). But the line between animals and 
man is not so undefined as it is made in Hindu mythology by the doctrine of the 
transmigration of souls. 

t See the following passages, which bear on the existence of the \f/vxi) after death 
as an eldcoXov in Hades : II. XXIII. 72, 104 : Od. XI. 213, 476 ; XX. 355 ; XXIV. 14. 
It is curious that the Hindu notion of the restless state of the soul until the s'raddha 
is performed (see note, p. 38) agrees with the ancient classical superstition that the 
ghosts of the dead wandered about as long as their bodies remained unburied, and 
were not suffered to mingle with those of the other dead. Sec Odysa. XI. ,-,4: II. 
XXIII. 72 ; and cf. JEn. VI. 325 : Lncan I. II.: Eur. Hec. 30. 

u 2 



52 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

pass into other bodies hereafter, which in Hindu poetry invests present 
actions with a mysterious meaning, and gives a deep distinctive colour- 
ing to Indian theology*. 

Above all, although priests are occasionally mentioned in the Iliad 
and the Odyssey, there is wholly wanting in the Homeric poems any 
recognition of a regular hierarchy, or the necessity for a mediatorial 
caste of sacrificers f. This, which may be called the sacerdotal element 
of the Indian epics, is more or less woven into their very tissue. Priest- 
craft has been at work in these productions almost as much as the 

* The essentially Asiatic doctrine of metempsychosis, which was little known among 
the Greeks till Pythagoras, may account for the mixing up of earth and heaven which 
prevails far more in Hindu than in classical mythology. Not only is a constant com- 
munication kept up between the two worlds, but such is their mutual interdependance 
that gods, men, and animals seem constantly to need each others' help. If distressed 
mortals are assisted out of their difficulties by divine interposition, the tables are 
often turned, and the poor gods, being themselves reduced to pitiful straits, are forced 
to implore the aid of mortal warriors in their conflicts with the demons. I need 
scarcely refer to the well-known examples of this in the S'akuntala and Vikramorvasi, 
&c. Again, not only are men often aided by animals which usurp human functions, 
but even the gods are dependant upon them, and are poetically described as using 
them for vehicles — Brahma is carried on a swan ; Vishnu on an eagle, which is also 
half a man ; S'iva on a bull. The dependance of the Hindu gods on mortals for actual 
food is only an extension of the same idea. They are represented as living on the 
sacrifices offered to them by human beings, and at every sacrificial ceremony assemble 
in troops, eager for their shares. In fact, sacrifice with the Hindus is not merely 
expiatory or placatory ; it is necessary for the actual support of the gods. If there 
were no sacrifices the gods would be liable to starvation. This alone will account for 
the very natural interest they take in the destruction of the demons, whose great aim 
and object was to obstruct these sources of their sustenance. Much in the same way 
the ghosts of dead men, according to the Hindus, are supposed to depend on the 
living, and to be actually fed with cakes and libations at the srdddha ceremonies. 

t A king, or any other individual, is allowed in Homer to perform a sacrifice with- 
out the help of priests. See II. II. 411; III. 392. Nevertheless we read occasionally 
of a 0voo-k6os, or ' sacrifice-viewer,' who prophesied from the appearance of the flame 
and the smoke at the sacrifice. See II. XXIV. 221 : Odyss. XXI. 144 ; XXII. 319. 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 53 

imagination of the poet ; and Brahmanism, claiming a monopoly of all 
knowledge, human and divine, has appropriated this, as it has every 
other department of literature, and warped it to its own purposes. Its 
policy being to check the development of intellect, and keep the inferior 
castes in perpetual childhood, it encouraged an appetite for exaggera- 
tion more monstrous and absurd than would be tolerated in the most 
extravagant European fairy-tale. The more improbable the statement, 
the more childish delight it was calculated to awaken. This is more 
true of the Ramayana than of the Maha-bharata ; but even in the later 
epic, full as it is of geographical, chronological, and historical details, 
few assertions can be trusted. Time is measured by millions of years, 
space by millions of miles ; and if a battle has to be described, no- 
thing is thought of it unless millions of soldiers, elephants, and horses 
are brought into the field *. 

Even in the delineation of heroic character, w r here Hindu poets ex- 
hibit much skill, they cannot avoid ministering to the craving for the 
marvellous which is inseparable from their nature. 

Homer's characters are like Shakespeare's. They are true heroes, if 
you will, but they are always men ; never perfect, never free from human 
weaknesses, inconsistencies, and caprices of temper f. If their deeds 
are sometimes praeterhuman, they do not commit improbabilities which 
are absolutely absurd. Moreover, he does not seem to delineate his 
characters ; he allows them to delineate themselves. They stand out 
like photographs, in all the reality of nature. We are not so much told 
what they do or say J. They appear rather to speak and act for them- 

* See extract from Aristotle's Poetics, p. 27, note f. 

t How far more natural is Achilles, with all his faults, than Rama, with his almost 
painful correctness of conduct ! Even the cruel vengeance that Achilles perpetrates 
on the dead Hector strikes us as more likely to be true than Rama's magnanimous 
treatment of the fallen Ravana. 

X Aristotle says that "among the many just claims of Homer to our praise, this is 
one — that he is the only poet who seems to have understood what part in his poem it 
was proper for him to take himself. The poet, in his own person, should speak as 



54 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

selves. In the Hindu epics the poet gives us too long and too tedious 
descriptions in his own person ; and, as a rule, his characters are either 
too good or too bad. True, even the better heroes sometimes commit 
what a European would call crimes ; but if they sin, they do not sin 
like men *. We see in them no portraits of ourselves. The pictures 
are too much one colour. There are few gradations of light and shadow, 
and little artistic blending of opposite hues. On the one side we have 
all gods or demigods; on the other, all demons or fiends. We miss 
real human beings with mixed characters. There is no mirror held up 
to inconsistent humanity. Duryodhana and his ninety-nine brothers 
would be real men if they were not so uniformly vicious. Lakshmana 
has perhaps the most natural character among the heroes of the Rama- 
yana, and Bhima among those of the Maha-bharata. In many respects 
the character of the latter is not unlike that of Achilles ; but in draw- 
ing his most human heroes the Indian poet still displays a perpetual 
tendency to run into extravagance. 

It must be admitted, however, that in exhibiting pictures of domestic 
life and manners the Sanskrit epics are even more valuable than the 
Greek and Roman. In the delineation of women the Hindu poet 
throws aside all exaggerated colouring, and draws from nature. Kai- 
keyi, Kaus'alya, Mandodari (the favourite wife of Ravanaf), and even 

little as possible Homer, after a few preparatory lines, immediately intro- 
duces a man, a woman, or some other character; for all have their character." (Poetics 
III. 3.) 

* The Pandavas were certainly guilty of one inhuman act of treachery. In their 
anxiety to provide for their own escape from a horrible death, they enticed an out- 
caste woman and her five sons into their inflammable lac-house, and then burnt her 
alive. But the guilt of this transaction is neutralized to a Hindu by the woman being 
an outcaste ; and besides, it is Bhima who sets fire to the house. See the analysis at 
the end of this book. Rama and Lakshmana again were betrayed into a piece of 
cruelty in mutilating Surpanakha ; but for this the fiery Lakshmana was responsible. 

f What can be more natural than Mandodari's lamentations over the dead body of 
Ravana, and her allusions to his fatal passion for Sita, in the 95th chapter of the 6th 
book of the Ramayana ? (Gorresio's edition.) 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 55 

the hump-backed Manthara, are all drawn to the very life. Sita, Drau- 
padi, and Damayanti engage our affections and our interest far more 
than Helen, or even than Penelope. Indeed, Hindu wives are gene- 
rally perfect patterns of conjugal fidelity ; nor can it be doubted that 
in these delightful portraits of the Pativrata or devoted wife we have 
true representations of the purity and simplicity of Hindu domestic 
manners in early times *. We may also gather from the epic poems 
many interesting hints as to the social position occupied by Hindu 
women before the Muhammadan conquest. No one can read the Ra- 
mayana and Maha-bharata without coming to the conclusion that the 
habit of secluding women, and of treating them as inferiors, is, to a 
certain extent, natural to all eastern nations, and prevailed in the ear- 
liest times f« Yet no one, at the same time, can fail to observe, that 

* No doubt the devotion of a Hindu wife implied greater inferiority than is com- 
patible with modern European ideas of independence. The extent to which this devo- 
tion was carried even in little matters is curiously exemplified by the story of Gandhari, 
who out of sympathy for her blind husband never appeared in public without a veil 
over her face. Hence, during the grand sham-fight between the Kuru and Pandu 
princes, Vidura stood by Dhritarashtra, and Kunti by Gandhari, to describe the scene 
to them (Astrasiksha, 34). 

t It was equally natural to the Greeks and Romans. Chivalry and reverence for 
the fair sex belonged only to European nations of northern origin, who were the first 
to hold 'inesse foeminis sanctum aliquid.' (Tac. Germ. 8.) That Hindu women in 
ancient times secluded themselves, except on certain occasions, may be inferred from 
the word asuryampasyd, given by Panini as an epithet of a king's wife ('one who 
never sees the sun'); a very strong expression, stronger even than the pardani- 
shiri of the Muhammadans. It is to be observed also that in the Ramayana (VI. 
xcix. 33) there is clear allusion to some sort of seclusion being practised ; and the 
term Avarodha, ' secluded or guarded place,' is used long before the time of the 
Muhammadans for the women's apartments. In the Ratnavali, however, the minister 
of Vatsa, with his chamberlain and the envoy from Ceylon, are admitted to an audience 
there in the presence of the queen and her damsels ; and Rama, although in the 99th 
chapter of the 6th book of the Ramayana he thinks it necessary to excuse himself fol 
permitting his wife to expose herself to the gaze of the crowd, yet expressly (verse 34) 
enumerates various occasions on which it was allowable for a woman to show herself 



56 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

women in India were subjected to less social restraint in former days 
than they are at present. True, the ancient lawgiver, Manu, speaks of 
women as having no will of their own, and totally unfit for independ- 
ence ; but he probably described a state of society which it was the 
aim of an arrogant priesthood to establish, rather than that which 
really existed in his own time. At a later period the pride of Brah- 
manism, and still more recently the influence of Muhammadanism, 
deprived women of even such freedom as they once enjoyed ; so that 
at the present day no Hindu woman has, in theory, any independence. 
It is not merely that she is not her own mistress : she is not her own 
property, and never, under any circumstances, can be. She belongs to 
her father first, who gives her away to her husband, to whom she 
belongs for ever*. She is not considered capable of so high a form of 
religion as man f> and she does not mix freely in society. But in 

unveiled. I here translate the passage, as it bears very remarkably on this interesting 
subject. Rama says to Vibhishana — " Neither houses, nor vestments, nor enclosing 
walls, nor ceremony, nor regal insignia (raja-satkara), are the screen (avarana) of a 
woman. It is her own virtue alone (that protects her). In great calamities (vya- 
saneshu), at marriages, at the public choice of a husband by maidens (of the Kshatriya 
caste), at a sacrifice, at assemblies (sansatsu), it is allowable for all the world to look 
upon women (strinam dars'anam sarvalaukikam)." 

* Hence when her husband dies she cannot be remarried, as there is no one to give 
her away. In fact, the remarriage of Hindu widows, which is now permitted by law, 
is utterly opposed to all modern Hindu ideas about women ; and there can be no 
doubt that the passing of this law was one cause of the mutiny of 1857. I* ia c l ear 
from the story of Damayanti, who appoints a second Swayamvara, that in early times 
remarriage was not necessarily a violation of propriety ; though, from Damayanti's 
wonder that the new suitor should have failed to see through her artifice, and from 
her vexation at being supposed capable of a second marriage, it may be inferred that 
a second marriage was even then not altogether reputable. 

t No doubt the inferior capacity of a woman as regards religion was implied in the 
epic poems, as well as in later works. A husband was said to be the wife's divinity, 
as well as her lord and master, and her best religion was to please him. See Sita's 
speech, p. 13 of this book. See also the quotation from Madhava Acharya (who flou- 
rished in the 14th century), at p. 17, note *. Such verses as the following are com- 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. ,")7 

ancient times, when the epic songs were current in India^ women were 
not confined to intercourse with their own families ; they did very much 
as they pleased, travelled about, and showed themselves unreservedly 
in public *, and, if of the Kshatriya caste, were occasionally allowed 
to choose their own husbands from a number of assembled suitors f. 
It is clear, moreover, that in many instances there was considerable 
dignity and elevation about the female character, and that much 
mutual affection prevailed in families. Nothing can be more beautiful 
and touching than the pictures of domestic and social happiness in the 
Ramayana and Maha-bharata. Children are dutiful to their parents J 
and submissive to their superiors ; younger brothers are respectful 

mon in Hindu literature : Bharta hi paramam narya bhushanam, bhushanais vina, 
'a husband is a wife's chief ornament even without (other) ornaments.' Manu says 
(V. 151), Yasmai dadyat pita tv enam bhrata vanumate pituh, Tarn s'us'rusheta jivan- 
tam sansthitam cha na langhayet, ' Him to whom her father may give her, or her 
brother with her father's consent, let her obey while he lives, and when he dies let 
her never slight him.' In book IV. 198, Manu classes women with Sudras. 

* Especially married women. A wife was required to obey her husband implicitly, 
but in other respects she was to be independent (swatantryam arhati, Maha-bhar. I. 
4741). Sita, as we have seen, was allowed to show herself to the army; and, in 
illustration of what was said in a former note, we may here add that S'akuntala 
appeared in the public court of king Dushyanta ; Damayanti travelled about by her- 
self ; and in the Uttara-Rama-charita, the mother of Rama comes to the hermitage 
of Valmiki. It is certain that women were present at dramatic representations, visited 
the temples of the gods, and performed their ablutions with little privacy ; which last 
custom they still practise, though Muhammadan women are prohibited from doing 
so. (Wilson, Hindu Theatre, vol. I. xliii.) 

t The Swayamvara, however, appears to have been something exceptional, and only 
to have been allowed in the case of the daughters of kings or Kshatriyas. See Drau- 
padi-swayamvara, 127 : see also Maha-bhar. I. 7926. 

J Contrast with the respectful tone of Hindu children towards their parents, the harsh 
manner in which Telemachus generally speaks to his mother. Filial respect and affec- 
tion is quite as noteworthy a feature in the Hindu character now as in ancient times. 
I have been assured by Indian officers that it is common for unmarried soldiers to stmt 
themselves almost to starvation-point, that they may send home money to their aged 

1 



58 INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 

to elder brothers ; parents are fondly attached to their children, watch- 
ful over their interests and ready to sacrifice themselves for their 
welfare ; wives are loyal, devoted, and obedient to their husbands, 
yet show much independence of character, and do not hesitate to 
express their own opinions ; husbands are tenderly affectionate to- 
wards their wives, and treat them with respect and courtesy ; daugh- 
ters and women generally are virtuous and modest, yet spirited and, 
when occasion requires, courageous ; love and harmony reign through- 
out the family circle. Indeed, it is in depicting scenes of domestic 
affection, and expressing those universal feelings and emotions which 
belong to human nature in all time and in all places, that Sanskrit 
epic poetry is unrivalled. In this respect not even Greek epos can 
compete with it. It is not often that Homer takes us out of the battle- 
field ; and if we except the lamentations over the bodies of Patroclus 
and Hector, the visit of Priam to the tent of Achilles, and the part- 
ing of Hector and Andromache, there are no such pathetic passages 
in the Iliad as the death of the ' hermit-boy/ the pleadings of Sita 
for permission to accompany her husband into exile, and the whole 
ordeal-scene at the end of the Ramayana. In the Indian epics such 
passages abound, and, besides giving a very high idea of the purity 
and happiness of domestic life in ancient India, indicate a capacity in 
Hindu women for the discharge of the most sacred and important 
social duties. 

We must guard against the supposition that the women of India at 
the present day have altogether fallen from their ancient character. 
Notwithstanding the corrupting example of Muhammad anism, and the 
degrading tendency of modern Hinduism, some remarkable instances 



parents. In fact, in proportion to the weakness or rather total absence of the national 
is the strength of the family bond. In England, where national life is strongest, 
children are far more independent, and less respectful to their parents. In this the 
Hindus might teach us a good lesson. 



INDIAN EPIC POETRY. 59 

may still be found of moral, social, and even intellectual excellence *■ 
These, however, are exceptions, and we may rest assured, that until 
Asiatic women, whether Hindu or Muhammadan, are elevated and edu- 
cated, our efforts to raise Asiatic nations to the level of European will 
be fruitless f. Let us hope that w r hen the Ramayana and Maha-bharata 
shall no longer be held sacred as repositories of faith and storehouses 
of religious tradition, the enlightened Hindu may still learn from these 
poems to honour the weaker sex ; and that Indian women, restored to 
their ancient liberty and raised to a still higher position by becoming 
joint -partakers of Christ's religion, may do for our Eastern empire 
what they have done for Europe — soften, invigorate, and ennoble the 
character of its people. 

* In some parts of India, especially in the Marathi districts, there is still consi- 
derable freedom of thought and action allowed to women. 

f Manu gives expression to a great truth when he says (III. 145), Sahasram tu 
pitrin mata gauravenatirichyate. 



ANALYSIS OF THE RAMAYANA. 



(Observe — The poem consists of seven books, but the seventh, or Uttara-kanda, is generally 
admitted to be a later addition.) 



FIRST BOOK or BALA-KANDA, also called ADI-KANDA.— The real story 
of the poem does not begin till the 5th chapter of this book *. The first four chapters 
are introductory, and are probably much later in date than the body of the poem. 
In the first chapter the poet Valmiki f, the author of the work, is represented as 
inquiring of the sage Narada, " who is the bravest and best man that ever lived on 
the earth ?" Narada then relates briefly the history of Rama ; which Valmiki had not 
before heard. Soon afterwards Valmiki, walking near a river, sees a hunter shoot a 

* As the northern recension of the Ramayana commenced by Schlegel is the older and 
purer, my references are to that as far as the end of book II. I have then referred to Gor- 
resio's edition. The new Calcutta edition of the northern recension had not arrived at the 
Bodleian when I made my analysis. I have however inserted occasional references to it since, 
and should be inclined to add others, did I not feel convinced that this edition will never 
commend itself to the use of European students. Out of deference to native prejudices, it is 
printed to resemble a MS., and not a single word is divided — practical inconveniences, which, 
in my opinion, almost neutralize the advantage it possesses of a full commentary. M. Hippo- 
lyte Fauche deserves credit for his laborious translation into French of the whole edition of 
Gorresio ; but I had not an opportunity of consulting his version, nor M. St. Hilaire's articles 
upon it in the 'Journal des Savants,' till I had nearly finished my own work. 

+ The author of an article in the Calcutta Review (XLV), to whom I am indebted for 
some Valuable remarks on the Ramayana, thinks there is no doubt that Valiniki resided on 
the banks of the Jumna, near its confluence with the Ganges at Allahabad ; and tradition has 
marked a hill in the district of Banda in Bundelkund, as his abode. He is said to have 
begun life as a highway robber, but repenting of his misdeeds, betook himself to a hermitage, 
on this hill, where he eventually received Sita", the wife of Rama, when banished by her over- 
sensitive husband. There were born her two sons, Kusa and Lava (sometimes combined into 
one compound, thus — Kusl-lavau), who were taught to sing the poem descriptive of their 
unknown father's actions, and from whom are traced the proudest Rajput castes. The reviewer 
thinks it not unlikely that VaUmfki may have been contemporaneous with the heroes whom 
he describes ; but this opinion seems to me to be based on insufficient data. 



FIRST BOOK OR BA'LA-Ka'XDA. f)l 

heron, and grieving for the poor bird he curses the hunter in language expressive of 
his sorrow (s'oka). His words took the form of a verse, ever afterwards called sloka; 
and in this metre *, at the command of the god Brahma, he composed the Ramayana, 
a poem celebrating, in 24,000 verses, the life and adventures (ayana) of Rama, a prince 
of the solar race of kings, which commenced in Ikshwaku. The third chapter contains 
the Anukramamka, or table of contents ; and the fourth describes the appointment of 
two rhapsodists (Kusa and Lava, really the children of Sita and Rama), who were to 
commit the whole poem to memory, and sing it at assemblies. 

It may be useful here to give an abridgment of the genealogy of the solar race of 
kings, commencing with Ikshwaku, the son of the Manu Vaivaswata (the seventh 
Manu, or Manu of the present period). The latter was the son of Vivaswat (i. e. the 
sun, commonly called Siirya). The sun again was the son of the Muni Kasyapa, who 
was the son of the Rishi Marichi, who was the son of Brahma. From Ikshwaku t 
sprang the two branches of the solar dynasty ; that of Ayodhya or Oude, which may 
be said to have commenced in Kakutstha, the grandson of Ikshwaku (as the latter's 
son Vikukshi, father of Kakutstha, did not reign), and that of Mithila, or Videha 
(Tirhut) which commenced in another of Ikshwaku's sons, Ximi. Thirty-fifth in 
descent from Kakutstha came Sagara ; fourth from him Bhagiratha ; third from 
him Ambarisha ; and fifteenth from him Raghu. We here repeat a portion of the 
genealogy in order — Marichi, Kasyapa, Vivaswat or Siirya, Vaivaswata, Ikshwaku 

[Vikukshi], Kakutstha [ ], Sagara [ . .], Di- 

lipa, Bhagiratha [. .], Ambarisha [ ], Raghu, Aja, Das'aratha, Rama. 

Hence Rama is variously called, Kakutstha, Raghava, Das'aratha or Das'arathi. 

The poem opens in the 5th chapter with a description of Ayodhya or Oude, a city 
on the banks of the Sarayu % s the capital of the kingdom of Kos'ala, which belonged 
to Das'aratha, Rama's father. 

* That the Ramayana is reckoned by the Hindus to be one of the earliest Indian poems 
is shown by the circumstance that the invention of the common sloka metre, used in all sub- 
sequent heroic poems, is attributed to its author. 

t This list agrees with the usual one as exhibited in Prinsep's table ; but there is consi- 
derable variation in the genealogy, as given in RanuCyana II. ex. For instance, the son of 
Ikshwjiku is said to be Kukshi, and his son Vikukshi. 

J Although Ayodhya" is the base of operations in the Rjimayana, yet the poet carries us 
through a vast extent of country, conducting us now beyond the Sutlej into the Punjab, now 
across the Viiulhya mountains into the Deccan, and across the Narbadda" and Godavarf to 
the moat southern parts of India, even to the island of Ceylon. It is probable, however, that 
the geography of the poem is not always to be trusted. The river Sarayu is now nlled 
the Gogra. 



62 ANALYSIS OF THE RA'maYANA. 

We have next, in the 6th and 7th chapters, an eulogium on Dasaratha and his 
chosen counsellors; of whom the most eminent were Vas'ishtha,Vamadeva, Sumantra, 
and seven others. These are all Brahmans, and direct the affairs of the government. 
King Dasaratha is without a son (viii. 1); a serious calamity in India, where a son 
is needed for the due performance of the sraddha or funeral ceremony necessary for 
the repose of the parent's soul after death (see note, p. 38), and where the very word 
for son (putra or puttra) is declared to mean one who delivers his father from hell * , 
The usual remedy for this misfortune was a great sacrifice conducted by Brahmans, 
who receive enormous presents in return for the favour of the gods, which they are 
supposed thereby to procure f. Rishyas'ringa therefore, a celebrated sage, married to 
Das'aratha's daughter Santa (whose story is related in an episode, ix %), is called in 
to assist at the celebration of a great as'wamedha or horse-sacrifice. 

* That is, from a particular hell called Put. Punna^nno narak^d yasm^t pitaram trayate 
sutah, Tasm^t puttra iti proktah. Ram. 1. 76 (Carey), quoted from Manu, book IX. 138. This 
is of course a mere fanciful etymology. But there is no doubt that the Hindus believe that 
the happiness of the dead depends on the performance of the sraddha ceremonies by their 
descendants. A man is therefore said to be in debt to his forefathers until he has a son. 
Then, and not till then, he is absolved from his debt to them — Esha va* anrino yah putrlti 
sruteh. 

+ These sacrifices were purposely cumbered with a most tedious and intricate ceremonial, 
which none could perform but Brahmans educated to the task. The R^kshasas were repre- 
sented as eagerly on the watch for any flaw, defect, or mistake. If any occurred, the whole 
ceremony was seriously obstructed, and its efficacy destroyed. 

X The episode of Rishyasringa is very curious. " It so happened, that in the neighbouring 
kingdom of the Angi, now known as the district of Bhagulpore, in Bengal, there had been a 
great dearth, and the king, Lomap^da, had been assured that the only chance of obtaining rain 
was to entice this same ascetic from his retirement, and get him to marry the king's daugh- 
ter, or rather the adopted child of LomapjCda, and real daughter of Dasaratha. This ascetic 
was the son of Vibhandaka, a sainted mortal of frightful power ; and he had begotten this son 
apparently without a mother, and had brought him up alone in the wilderness, where he had 
never seen nor even heard of the existence or fascinations of that interesting portion of the 
human race, called woman. The plan was to send a party of young females, disguised as 
ascetics, and coax the great saint from his retreat by those wiles which are all-powerful. The 
episode describing all this is most fantastic. The surprise and unsettlement of the mind, the 
entire interruption of devotions, and the heart's unrest, that befell the unhappy saint when 
he received his new visitants, is most graphically described ; and we might laugh at the con- 
ceit of such being possible, had not a modern traveller in the Levant, Mr. Curzon, assured us 
of the existence of a similar case in one of the convents of Mount Athos in the nineteenth 
century. He there found a monk in middle life who had never set eyes on women, nor had 
any notion of them beyond what could be formed from a black and hideous altar-picture of 



FIRST BOOK OR BALA-Ka'nDA. 63 

This was successfully conducted. We are told that " no oblation was neglected, 
nor any mistake committed; all was performed in exact conformity to the Veda*" 
(sail. 10). The gods, with Indra at their head, assembled to receive their shares of 
the oblations (see note, p. 52), and being satisfied, promised four sons to Das'aratha 
(xiv. 9). The scene now changes to the Hindu Olympus, where a deputation of the 
gods waits on Brahma, and represents to him that the universe is in danger of being 
destroyed by the chief of the Rakshasas, Ravana. His power is described as so great 
that " where he is, there the sun does not give out its heat ; the winds through fear 
of him do not blow ; the fire ceases to burn ; and the ocean, crowned with rolling 
billows, becomes motionless" (xiv. 17). This great demon could only be destroyed 
by man, as by a long course of penance he had obtained a boon from Brahma, in 
virtue of which he was invulnerable by gods and divine beings of all kinds (xiv. 22). 
While the discussion of this matter is going on in heaven, Vishnu joins the conclave, 
and, on being requested, promises to take the form of man, that he may kill Ravana 
(xiv. 45). The next scene takes us back to the sacrifice. A supernatural being, tall as 
a mountain, rises in the fire, and presents a cup of divine payasa or nectar to the priest, 
which the queens of Das'aratha are directed to drinkf (xv. 20). Half is given to Kau- 

the Virgin Mary. The cruel traveller, by an accurate description of the many charms of the 
fair sisterhood, entirely destroyed the poor solitary monk's peace of mind for the future. In 
the Hindu story they went further, for they enticed the ascetic away from his woods, put him 
on board a vessel on the broad Ganges, married him to the king's daughter, and brought 
him to Ayodhya", to conduct the sacrifice." See Calcutta Review, XLV. 

* The horse chosen for this purpose was let loose and allowed to roam about for a year. If 
no one was able during this period to seize it, it was deemed fit for sacrifice ; but the seizure 
was sometimes effected by the god Indra, whose tenure of heaven was imperilled by the great 
power accruing to those who completed many aswamedhas. Another year was consumed in 
preparations for the sacrifice. The description of the ceremony, in the 13th chap. (Calc. ed. 
14), is curious. Many parts of the sacrifice, such as the Pravargya and Upasada, cannot be 
explained, as the nature of these rites is unknown to the pandits of the present day. Twenty- 
one yupas or sacrificial posts were erected, to which were tied various animals, and especially 
the horse. Near the latter the queens of Dasaratha watched for a whole night. The marrow 
(vapa) of the horse [patatrin here = horse. According to the commentator, Calcutta edition, 
pura" aswanam pakshah santlti prasidhy;! evamv^dah] was then taken out and dressed, and the 
horse itself appears to have been cut up and offered in the fire, and the king, smelling the smoke 
of the burning flesh, became absolved from his sins. Various other sacrifices seem to have 
accompanied the asVamedha, such as the Chatushtoma, Jyotishtoma, Atiratra, Abhijit. fee. 
The most important part of the whole proceeding was the feasting and the largesses. King 
Dasaratha is described as giving to the priests a million cows, a hundred million pieces of 
gold, and four times as many pieces of silver. 

t Of Da^aratha's three wives, the chief, Kaus'alya", is said to haw bet D of hifl own race ami 



64 ANALYSIS OF THE RAMA'yANA. 

salya, who brings forth Rdma, possessed of half the nature of Vishnu (and so called 
from the root ram, meaning ' to delight :' see Gorresio's edition, xix. 28) ; half the re- 
maining part, or one-fourth, to Sumitra, who brings forth Lakshmana and Satrughna, 
having each an eighth part of Vishnu's essence ; and the remaining quarter to Kai- 
keyi, who brings forth Bharata, with a fourth part of Vishnu's essence *. The bro- 
thers are all deeply attached to each other ; but Lakshmana (often called Saumitri) is 
especially the companion of Ramaf, and Satrughna of Bharata. Previously to the 
description of the birth of the princes there is a curious account of the creation of the 
monkeys, bears, and other semi - divine animals J, who were afterwards to become 
the allies of Rama in his war with Ravana. "These beings were supposed to be incar- 
nations of various gods, and were in fact the progeny of the gods, demigods, divine 
serpents, and other mythical personages. Thus Su-griva (the chief of them) was the 
son of the Sun ; Bali of Indra ; Tara of Vrihaspati ; Gandha-madana of Kuvera ; 
Nala of Vis'wakarma ; Nila of Fire ; and the celebrated Hanumat, of the Wind. They 
appear to have been genii rather than animals, and could assume any form they 
pleased (Kama-rupinah, xvi. 18) : they could wield rocks, remove mountains, break 
the strongest trees, tear up the earth, mount the air and seize the clouds" (xvi. 24). 

While Rama and his brothers are still mere striplings, the sage Viswamitra, son of 
Gadhi, presents himself at their father's court, and requests that Rama will come to his 
hermitage to protect him and other devotees in the celebration of a sacrifice, which was 
impeded by the attacks of the Rakshasas || (xx). Das'aratha at first flatly refuses to 

country (probably so called from Kosala, the country of DasWatha) ; the second, Kaikeyf, 
was the daughter of Aswapati, king of Kekaya, supposed to be in the Punjab (whence the 
king himself is sometimes called Kekaya) ; and the third, Sumitra^ was probably from Ma- 
gadha or Behar. The father of the last is said to have been a Vaisya. Although in xix. 
the birth of Bharata is narrated after that of Rama, he is supposed to have been born after 
the twins ; and in xv. the nectar is taken to Sumitra^ next to Kausalya\ Schlegel consi- 
ders that Bharata was eleven months junior to Rama, and the twins only three months. See 
his note to xix. Probably the mother of Bharata was higher in rank than Sumitra^ which 
would give him the precedence. 

* Avasishtardham, in the text, must be taken to mean 'a half of the half,' as Kaikeyi 
certainly received a fourth part of the celestial food (xv. 22). 

t He was to Rama like another self. Ramasya Lakshmano vahihpraha ivaparah, na cha 
tena vina" nidram labhate, na tarn vmi, mishtam annam upanftam as"n^ti (xix. 22). 

% Described (xvi. 19) as go-puchha, 'with tails like oxen.' 

|| According to the Uttara-kanda (Calc. ed. IV. 9. V. 2 1), Brahma^ after creating the waters, 
formed a race of beings called Rakshasas to guard them (raksh), and Viswakarma assigned 
Lank£ as their abode. But it is a noteworthy circumstance, that in Hindu mythology the 
principal employment and aim of all the malignant operations of evil spirits and demons was 



FIRST BOOK OR BALA-KANDA. 65 

let his son go (fearing the risk for one so young) ; but the anger of Vis'wamitra is so 
terrible, that at length the king consents (xxii. xxiii). Rama and Lakshmana there- 
fore are allowed to accompany Vis'wamitra, who takes them along the course of the 
Sarayu or Gogra to the junction of that river with the Ganges. They passed the 
night on the bank ; and Vis'wamitra, who proved a most loquacious companion, ex- 
plained the cause of the noise of the meeting of the waters (xxvi. 6). They lodged 
in a grove, where formerly S'iva performed penance. There Kamadeva, trying to 
influence S'iva with love, shot an arrow at him, and was reduced to ashes by a flash 
from his eye (xxv). When they had crossed the river, Rama displayed his prowess by 
the slaughter of a giantess or fiend named Tadaka : but it was only after long argu- 
ment that he could be induced to kill a female (xxviii). This was his first exploit; 
and Vis'wamitra in return presented him with a number of mystical weapons (xxix ; 
see note, p. 27). Proceeding onwards, they arrived at the place where the sacrifice 
was to be performed, called ' the grove of perfection' * (xxxi. 28). Here Vishnu, in a 
previous incarnation as the Vamana, or dwarf, had resided, when he became incarnate 
to deliver the world from the tyranny of Bali. The grove was now occupied by 
numbers of devotees, who were waiting the arrival of Rama, to complete their great 
sacrifice. The demons were soon routed by the hero, and their leader Maricha (who 
was to appeal* again as an enemy of Rama) was hurled by a blow from one of his 
mystical arrows to the distance of a hundred yojanas, into the ocean (xxxii. 17). When 
the sacred rites were accomplished, news was brought that Janaka, king of Mithila, 
was about to perform a sacrifice, and, at a great assembly, to give his daughter Sita f 
in marriage to any one who could bend the bow of S'iva (xxxiii. 4 ; and see pp. 5, 6, of 
this volume). 

Vis'wamitra proposed to take the young princes to the assembly +. On their way 
they encamped on the bank of the river S'ona, now known as the Sone (xxxiii. 20). 

not to guard any thing, but rather to disturb the sacrifices and holy rites of devout men, and 
prevent their completion. (See note §, p. 9.) Vis'wamitra himself might have conquered these 
demons; 'a word, a look of his might have reduced them to ashes;' but the slightest ex- 
pression of anger on his part would have neutralized the effect of the sacrifice. A hero of 
the warrior caste, therefore, had to be present, to enable the ceremony to proceed. 

* According to the Calcutta Review, in the district of Shahaba\l. 

+ Called Sitd because not born from a woman, but from a furrow while Janaka was 
ploughing (lxvi. 14). Dr. Weber thinks that the whole story of R;lma and Sita is simply an 
allegory, denoting the introduction of agriculture and civilization into the south of India by 
immigrants from the north. He is also singular in believing that the Ramayana i< posterior 
to the Maha-bharata. 

+ According to the Calcutta Review it was on his road home, M be resided in the hilly 
country on the banks of the river Kosi. 

K 






66 ANALYSIS OF THE RAMAYAXA. 

Here Viswamitra tells his young companions the origin of the name of the city Kanya- 
Kubja, now called Kanouj, on the Ganges, sixty miles north of Cawnpore (xxxiv. 37). 
Next day they crossed the Sone, and journeyed through the district of the Ganges, 
where the episode of the origin of this river is introduced *. On the following day 
crossing the Ganges (xlv.9) they entered Tirhut f, arriving the first night at Visala (xlv. 
10; xlvii. 13), where they were hospitably received by king Sumati (xlvii. 20) ; and the 
history of the district is detailed by Viswamitra (xlv. 14). Proceeding towards Mithila 
(the capital of Tirhut), they passed through the hermitage of the sage Gautama (xlviii. 
10), whose story is then told. (His wife Ahalya was seduced by Indra, and the latter 
cursed in consequence £.) Thence proceeding onwards, they arrived at a great en- 
closure prepared for the sacrifice (yajna-vata) by king Janaka, where thousands of 
Brahmans were collected. King Janaka there met them (1), and Satananda, son of 
Gautama, the domestic chaplain of Janaka, narrated to Rama the history of Vis'wa- 
mitra ||. Thence with Janaka they proceeded to Mithila, the capital of his kingdom 
(now known as Janakpore, in the kingdom of Nepal, just beyond the Tirhut district), 
and were there hospitably entertained. The story of the bending the bow of S'iva by 
Rama is here told § (lvii ; see p. 5 of this volume). In consequence of this exploit 
Sita became the prize of Rama (lxvii. 23) ; and messengers being sent to king Dasa- 
ratha (lxviii) to bid him to the wedding, he came accompanied by his two other sons, 
Bharata and Satrughna. A sister of Sita (U'rmila) was given to Lakshmana (lxxiii. 

* See p. 13 of this volume. 

t Or Sanskritice Tirabhuktl, the province bounded by the banks of three rivers, the Gan- 
dak (Gandaki), the Ganges, and the Kosi (Kau&kf). The most ancient name of the district 
is Videha, its capital being Mithila\ 

t This is one of the grossly indelicate stories of Hindu mythology. 

|| The various episodes which occur in this part of the poem are most interesting, especially 
this history of Viswamitra, the birth of Kartikeya, god of war, the success of Bhagiratha in 
bringing down the Ganges from heaven (p. 14), the churning of the ocean and production of the 
nectar. The history of Viswamitra includes the stories of Trisanku and that of Ambarisha, 
The last is very curious. Ambarisha, king of Ayodhya, performed a sacrifice (lxii), but the 
victim being stolen by Indra (see note, p. 63), he is told by the priest that either the victim itself 
must be recovered, or a human victim substituted in its place. Ambarisha wanders over the 
earth in search of the real victim, and meets at last with a Braliman named Richfka, to whom 
he offers a hundred thousand cattle for one of his sons. Richika refuses to let his eldest son 
go, and his wife will not part with the youngest. Upon this the middle son, S'unahsephah, 
offers himself and is accepted. When about to be offered up as a sacrifice he is saved by 
Viswamitra, who teaches him a prayer to Agni, and two hymns to Indra and Vishnu. 

§ In Bhavabhuti's drama, the Mah^-vlra-charitra (Act I), the bow is represented as arriv- 
ing, self -conveyed. 



SECOND BOOK OR AYODHYA'-KANJM. 67 

28); and two nieces of Janaka, daughters of his brother Kus'adhwaja (viz. Mandavi 
and S'ruta-kirti), became the brides of Bharata and S'atrughna respectively. The 
wedding is minutely described, as well as the pedigree of both families (lxx. lxxi), 
with special mention of the costly presents given to the Brahmans and family priests 
(lxxii). After the ceremony king Janaka bestowed munificent dowries on his daugh- 
ters (lxxiv. 2 — 6); and Dasaratha and his sons then set out on their return to Ayodhya. 
Vis'wamitra too took his leave, and retired towards the northern mountains* (lxxiv. 1). 
On their way home Dasaratha and his sons are met by Paras'u-Rama (regarded 
in the later mythology as a previous incarnation of Vishnu; see note, p. 11), who 
was angry at the breaking of S'iva's t bow by Rama-chandra, and challenged the latter 
to a trial of strength with another bow (once the property of Vishnu J, lxxv. 13), tell- 
ing him that if he could shoot an arrow from this bow he would consent to a personal 
combat. Rama-chandra easily accomplished this feat also ; and by so doing excluded 
Paras'u-Rama from a seat in the celestial world ||, but spared his life in consideration 
of his being a Brahman (lxxvi.6). On the party reaching Ayodhya, Bharata was taken 
by his mother's brother, Yudhajit, to finish his education at the court of his maternal 
grandfather, Aswapati or Kekaya, who lived in the city of Girivraja, said to be in the 
Punjab (I. lxxvii. 18; II. lxviii. 21), and S'atrughna accompanied him. 

SECOND BOOK or AYODHYA-KANDA.— At the commencement of this book 
we have an account of the circumstances which led the king Das'aratha, at the insti- 
gation of Bharata's mother, Kaikeyi, to countermand the intended inauguration of 
Rama, as heir-apparent, and to decide on banishing him (i — xviiij and see p. 6 of 
this volume). It is remarkable that the virtues of Rama had disarmed his step- 
mothers ; and even the mother of Bharata (who was the king's favourite wife, xi. 6) 
felt no jealousy, until a humpbacked female slave named Manthara, like a fiend in- 
carnate, instigated her to plot the degradation of Rama, by suggesting that his ele- 
vation to the throne would involve the banishment or even death of Bharata, and her 
own disgrace (viii. 27). When all Kaikeyi's evil passions were thus roused, she tore 

* That is, to the Nepal hills, and we hear no more of him. 

f Parasu-Rama is elsewhere described as a disciple of S'iva. See Muir's Texts, vol. I. p. 157. 

X Both the bows, however, were made by VisVakarman (Vulcan) ; see Ram. I. lxxv. 1 1 . 

|| It appears that somehow or other by the discharge of the arrow he was excluded from 
a scat in the celestial world, which he had earned by his penance, and consequently had to 
retire to the Himalaya mountains (lxxvi. 22) : but the narrative is obscure ; see p. 1 1 of this 
volume. The commentator to the Calcutta edition says — fora-mokshe gamiahyami papasya 
ta|i;»s;i dagdhatv&t punyasya cha 6ara-mokshena phala-pratibandhe jivan mukto bhutvrf garni' 
ahyami ity arthah. 

K 2 



V 



68 ANALYSIS OF THE RA'ma'yANA. 

off her jewels, and threw herself on the bare ground in 'the chamber of anger' (kro- 
dhagara), an apartment which (according to Ward) is still maintained in Hindu houses 
for wives who are out of humour with their husbands. (See Calcutta Review, XLV. 
183.) There she is found by Dasaratha (x. 22), who in astonishment asks her if any 
one has insulted her (x. 28). She replies by reminding him that formerly, in a battle 
between the gods and demons, in which he had aided the gods, he was dangerously 
wounded, and that she had then watched by his bedside, and that he then promised 
her two boons, the fulfilment of which she now required, viz. the installation of Bha- 
rata, and the banishment of Rama for fourteen years to the forest of Dandaka as a 
tapasa or devotee (xi. 23 and 24). A tremendous quarrel then ensues between the 
king and Kaikeyi * (xii) ; but the king is obliged to abide by his promise, and gives 
orders for the banishment of Rama (xviii). The mother of Rama (Kaus'alya) is heart- 
broken : his friends counsel him to rebel, and the fiery Lakshmana urges resistance ; 
but the good Rama listens to no one, and thinks only of his duty to his father. 

Rama therefore is banished to the woods, and his wife Sita and her brother Laksh- 
mana insist on accompanying him (xxxi. xxxii). They set off for their fourteen years 
of exile, escorted at first by the citizens, and encamp the first night on the river 
Tamasa (now the Tonse, on which Azimgurh is situated, xlv). Rama, hopeless of 
persuading the citizens to return, crosses the river in the night while they are asleep 
(xlvi. 20 — 28), hastens to the Gomati (Goomtee, xlix. 10), and thence to the Ganges 
(1. 11) at Sungroor (in the district of Allahabad), then called Sringavera. Here was 
the extremity of his father's kingdom ; and here he made his charioteer Sumantra 
return (lii. 94), with a forgiving message to his father, urging him to send for the 
absent Bharata and inaugurate him as king (lii. 32), and to be kind to the stepmother 
who was the author of his own exile f (hi. 23). Here at Sringavera, on the Ganges 
(Ixxxiii. 19), Guha, king of the Nishadas, received them hospitably (1. 22). They 

* All the misfortunes of king Dasaratha are the result of polygamy ; whereas Rama was 
satisfied with one wife, the blameless Sft£, and remained ever faithful to her. In this Rama 
is a contrast to the heroes of the Mah^-bharata. 

t Before commencing their forest-life, Rama and Lakshmana, in obedience to the desire 
of Kaikeyi (xi. 23), clothed themselves in bark-garments, and tied their hair so as to form a 
jat£ or knot, projecting like a kind of horn over their foreheads, after the fashion of Hindu 
devotees (lii. 62). How many centuries have passed since the two brothers began their me- 
morable journey, and yet every step of it is known, and traversed annually by thousands of 
pilgrims ! strong indeed are the ties of religion, when entwined with the legends of a coun- 
try ! Those who have followed the path of Rama from the Gogra to Ceylon, stand out as 
marked men among their countrymen. It is this that gives the Ramayana a strange interest ; 
the story still lives : whereas no one now, in any part of the world, puts faith in the legends 
of Homer. (See Calcutta Review, XLV.) 



SECOND BOOK OR AYODHYa'-KA'N'DA. 69 

slept under an Ingudi tree (1), and next day Guha ferried them across the Ganges 
(lii. 69), and thence they soon reached the sacred junction of the Ganges and the 
Jumna, called by Hindus Prayaga (liv. 5), where now stands the celebrated city of 
Allahabad *, and where then stood the hermitage of the sage Bharadwaja. He also 
treated them hospitably (liv. 32); and, with his approval, they determined on fixing 
their first residence on the hill Chitra-kuta (Chuteerkote, liv. 28), about two days' 
march beyond the river Jumna (also called Kalindi). They therefore crossed that 
river (lv) on a great raft (sumahaplava, lv. 14) into the district of Bandah (in Bundel- 
kund) f, and, advancing into the forest (lv. 32), arrived at Chitra-kuta, where they 
erected their hermitage and commenced a forest-life, surrounded by various ancho- 
rites, whom they protected in the performance of their sacrifices X (lvi). 

When Rama's charioteer arrived at Ayodhya with the empty chariot (lvii), king 
Dasaratha was so affected, that after relating (lxiii) how in his youth he had acci- 
dentally killed a hermit's son, and incurred in consequence the father's curse (see 
p. 6 of this volume), his spirit sank within him, and he died (lxiv). The lamentations 
of the women soon proclaimed the event (lxv). The absent Bharata was sent for 
from the house of his maternal grandfather in the city of Girivraja || (lxviii. 21). He 
was seven days on his journey home (lxxi. 18); and when on reaching home he heard 
of his brother's banishment, he was horror-struck, and heaped imprecations on his 
astonished mother, who expected only praise from her son (lxxviii and lxxiv). Mean- 
while S'atrughna seized Manthara, the humpbacked slave, dragged her along the 
ground, and would have killed her (lxxviii. 16), but was prevented by Bharata (lxxviii. 

* This spot is also called Triveni, because the sacred river Saraswati is said to join the 
other two rivers underground. 

t The spot where they crossed is still shown in the Pergunnah of Mow. (Calcutta Review, 
XLV.) In fact, temples and shrines every where mark their steps. 

J The isolated hill Chitra-kuta is the holiest spot of the worshippers of Rama : it is 
crowded with temples and shrines of RcCma and Lakshmana. Every cavern is connected with 
their names ; the heights swarm with monkeys, and some of the wild-fruits are still called 
SM-phal. It is situated on a river called the Pisunf, described as the Manchikini (xcv), fifty 
miles south-east of the town of Bandah in Bundelkund, lat. 25.12, long. 80. 47. The river is 
lined with ghats and flights of stairs suitable for religious ablutions. 

|| This, as before mentioned, was the capital of the country of his mother Kaikeyi, and is 
also called Raja-griha. It was somewhere beyond the VipasM or Beeas, but not beyond the 
ChandrabMga or Chen«*ib. (See Calc. Review, XLV.) The locality is much disputed. Lassen 
connects the Kekeyi with the Kathaei, who are mentioned by Arrian, and are identified with 
the Khatree caste, in the Punj.lb. It was evidently beyond the Sutlej and the Bnnifa. U 
Bharata in returning is described as crossing the former river (see lxxi. 2) ; and the messen- 
gers who went to fetch him arc described as passing the Vip.4sa (lzvjii 1 9V 



70 ANALYSIS OF THE Ra'ma'yANA. 

21). The two brothers then went to Kausalya, pronounced before her the most ter- 
rible execrations against those who had procured Rama's banishment, and assured 
her of their determination to bring him back (lxxv). 

Before the last occurrences Bharata, on the twelfth day, had performed the s'raddha 
or funeral ceremonies (lxxvii. i), which a son alone could lawfully discharge, and 
which were necessary to secure the rest and happiness of a deceased parent's soul. 
Soon afterwards (on the fourteenth day) the ministers assembled, and decided that 
Bharata was to assume the government (lxxix), but he declined to deprive his elder 
brother Rama of his rightful inheritance, and declared his intention of setting out for 
the for st with a complete army (chatur-anga) to bring Rama back, and his deter- 
mination to undergo himself the fourteen years exile in the forest (lxxix. 8, 9). 

When the army was prepared they started (lxxxii. lxxxiii), and on reaching Sringa- 
vera on the Ganges they roused the anger of Guha, king of the Nishadas, who fancied 
they were marching against Rama (lxxxiv and lxxxv. 7). When he learned the real 
object of the expedition, he praised Bharata, and pointed out to him the spot, on the 
bare ground under the Ingudi tree, where his brother and Sita had rested. Bharata 
was much affected at the sight, and expressed his sentiments in touching language 
(lxxxviii; see also ]). Next day they crossed the Ganges, and following Rama's 
steps came to the hermitage of Bharadwaja at Prayaga (lxxxix. xc), who, by the 
power of his devotion, created a magnificent palace, and compelled the gods to supply 
a splendid feast for the whole army (xci). They were feasted with flesh meat and 
spirituous liquors, and food of all kinds, such as in later times no twice-born man 
was allowed to touch; and all the dancing-girls, damsels, and garlands of Indra's 
paradise were in requisition on the occasion (xci. 45. 50). Next they crossed the 
Jumna, and approached Chitra-kuta (see note J, p. 69), where the noise of the coming 
army at first alarmed the exiles (xcvii. 8). The impetuous Lakshmana broke out 
into anger (xcvii. 17), but Rama calmed him (xcviii) ; and presently Bharata and Sa- 
trughna stood before them (c). Rama's first inquiry was about his father (ci). Bha- 
rata then broke the sad news of his father's death, and begged him to return to 
Ayodhya and assume the kingdom (cii). 

Then ensued a generous contest between the brothers ; Bharata imploring Rama 
to accept the throne, and Rama insisting on the duty of making good his father's 
vow (cvi. cvii). Here the Brahman Javali, in a short discourse, tried to instil infidel, 
atheistic, and irreligious sentiments into Rama, hoping to shake his resolution ; but 
Rama indignantly rebuked him (cviii). In the end Bharata yielded, but only consented 
to take charge of the kingdom as a deposit. He bore away on his head Rama's shoes * 

* In the northern recension Bharata is made to bring with him a pair of shoes adorned 
with gold (hema-bhushita, cxii. 11). These he presents to Rama, begging him to put them 



THIRD BOOK OR ARANYA-Ka'nDA. 71 

in token of this (cxiii. i), and took up his abode outside Ayodhya, at Nandi- 
grama, putting on a bark dress, and wearing the matted hair of a devotee, until the 
return of the rightful king (cxv). Before dismissing him, the forgiving Rama en- 
treated him not to indulge angry feelings towards his mother for having caused the 
family calamities — ' Cherish thy mother Kaikeyi, show no resentment towards her ; 
thou art adjured to this by me and Sita' (cxii. 27). This ends the second book or 
Ayodhyd-kdnda ; which is certainly the best and most free from exaggerations in the 
whole poem. 



THIRD BOOK or ARANYA-KA'NDA.— After their departure the hermits who 
lived near Rama came to him and notified their intention of leaving their present 
abode, which had become too much infested by Rakshasas (i). Rama, finding his 
retreat lonely without them, and wishing to remove further from his family, deter- 
mined on journeying southwards to the great forest of Dandaka, which in early times 
extended throughout the whole centre of India, from the Ganges to the Godavari. 
The first day they reached the hermitage of Anasuya, the wife of the Rishi Atri, a 
female devotee, who gave Sita some beautifying ointment * (ii. hi). Proceeding south 
through the jungle they entered the forest of Dandaka (v), and there came into col- 
lision with a giant, Viradha, representing one of the powerful aborigines (see note, 
p. 10), who was killed by Lakshmana, and buried, at his own request, in a pit (avata), 
to ensure his happiness in a future life (viii. 20). Next they came to the hermitage 
of an aged ascetic, S'arabhanga, who was mounting the pile to anticipate death and 
beatitude ; but fate had decreed that he should see Rama ere his felicity could be 
achieved. He hailed the hero as one long expected, directed him to seek the her- 
mitage of Sutikshna, then mounted the pilef, and when his body was consumed 
reappeared in a glittering shape (ix). After this, Rama promised security to numerous 

on ; which Rama accordingly does, and then returns them to Bharata, who upon that bows to 
the shoes and says, " For fourteen years I will wear the matted hair and dress of an ascetic, 
feeding on roots and fruits, and dwelling outside the city, and committing the kingdom to 
thy shoes. After the fourteenth year, if I do not see you again, I will enter the fire" (cxii. 26). 
The book ends by recording that Bharata never transacted any state-business or received any 
presents without first laying every thing before the shoes (cxv. •25). In the Bengal version 
the sage S'arabhanga brings the shoes, which are made of Kusa grass, and gives them to 
Rama, who puts them on and then presents to his brother (cxxiii. 20 — 21). 

* According to the Calcutta Reviewer, her cell is still shown on the Pisuni river, in Bun- 
delkund, on the edge of the Bandah district. 

+ The spot where this took place is still known as the hermitage of Sarbliamr. 011 tin 
of the Bandah district. (Calcutta Review.) 



72 ANALYSIS OF THE RAMa'yaNA. 

ascetics who were molested by the Rakshasas (x). He then crossed the Tamasa river 
(Tonse), and proceeded to the hermitage of Sutikshna, where was the celebrated Rama- 
giri, or hill of Rama* (now known as Ramtek, near Nagpore). In this neighbour- 
hood, moving from one hermitage to another, passed ten years of Rama's banishment 
(xv. 28). In the description of the quiet life of the exiles, we find that their morning 
and evening devotions were never omitted, and that Sita dutifully waited on her hus- 
band and brother-in-law, never eating till they had finished f. (See Gorresio's edition, 
II. lvi. 31.) When they travelled, Rama walked first, Sita in the middle, and Laksh- 
mana behind (xv. 1). On one occasion Rama passed near a lake called Panchapsaras, 
under which an ascetic named Mandakarni had built a secret chamber for five celes- 
tial damsels, who had seduced him from his devotions (xv. 17). At length, by the 
advice of Sutikshna, they moved westward to visit the hermitage of the sage Agastya, 
near the Vindhya mountains. He presented Rama with a bow and weapons, and 
advised him to live for the remainder of his exile in the neighbourhood of Janasthana 
at Panchavati on the Godaveri £ (xix). Whilst Rama was on his way to Panchavati 
he met the celebrated vulture Jatayus (son of Garuda), who, out of a former regard 
for his father Das'aratha, now declared his friendship for Rama, and his intention to 
aid him and protect Sita. This district was in fact infested by Rakshasas, and, 
amongst others, by Ravana' s sister, Surpa-nakha, who became smitten with love for 
Rama. He of course repelled her, telling her that he was already married (xxiv. 1) ; 
but this only roused the jealousy of Surpa-nakha, who made an attack on Sita, and so 
excited the brothers, that the fiery Lakshmana thoughtlessly cut off her ears and 
nose || (xxiv. 22). Surpa-nakha, smarting with pain, demanded vengeance from her 
brothers Khara and Dushana, who had been appointed by her elder brother Ravana 
to guard the district. Thereupon they attacked Rama and Lakshmana, but were 
both destroyed with their entire army of 14,000 Rakshasas (xxx. 21). Still bent on 
revenge, Surpa-nakha repaired to her brother Ravana, the demon-monarch of Ceylon 
(for whose destruction Vishnu had taken the form of Rama). 
v The description of Ravana, in the 36th chapter of the Aranya-kanda, is as fol- 
lows § : This mighty demon " had ten faces, twenty arms, copper-coloured eyes, a 

* Celebrated, at least in Sanskrit literature, as the place of exile of the Yaksha in the 
Meghaduta. 

f This custom remains unaltered to the present day. Compare Manu IV. 43 : ' Let him | 
not eat with his wife, nor look at her eating.' • 

X A spot now known as Nasik, in the Bombay presidency, between Bombay and Agra. 
(Calcutta Review.) 

|| It was from this circumstance that Panchavati is now called Nasik (n£sik£). 

§ As we have before remarked, Ravana may be regarded as the Satan of the Ramayana, 



i 



THIRD BOOK OR ARANYA-Ka'nDA. 73 

huge chest, and white teeth, like the young moon. His form was as a thick cloud, 
or a mountain, or the god of Death with open mouth. He had all the marks of 
royalty; but his body bore the impress of wounds inflicted by all the divine arms in 
his warfare with the gods. It was scarred by the thunderbolt of Indra, by the tusks 
of (Indra's) elephant Airavata, and by the discus of Vishnu. His strength was so 
great that he could agitate the seas and split the tops of mountains. He was a 
breaker of all laws, and a ravisher of other men's wives. He once penetrated into 
Bhogavati (the serpent-capital of Patala), conquered the great serpent Vasuki, and 
carried off the beloved wife of Takshaka. He defeated Vais'ravana (i. e. his own bro- 
ther Kuvera, the god of Wealth), and carried off his self-moving chariot called Push- 
paka. He devastated the divine groves of Chitra-i atha, and the gardens of the gods. 
Tall as a mountain-peak he stopped with his arms the sun and moon in their 
course, and prevented their rising. The sun, when it passed over his residence, drew 
in its beams in terror. He underwent severe austerities in the forest of Gokarna 
for ten thoiisand years, standing in the midst of five fires with his feet in the air ; 
whence he was released by Brahma, and obtained from him the power of taking what 
shape he pleased *." (Compare Calcutta edition, xxxii.) 

The better to secure the mighty Ravana' s cooperation, Surpa-nakha succeeded in 
inspiring him with a passion for Sita (xxxviii. 17), whom he determined to carry off. 
Having with difficulty secured the aid of another demon, Maricha, who was the son 
of the Tadaka (I. xxvii. 8) formerly killed by Rama, and had himself been hurled into 
the sea by Rama in his first battle with the Rakshasas (I. xxxii. 17), Ravana transported 
himself and his accomplice in the aerial car, Pushpaka, to the forest near Rama's 
dwelling (xlviii. 6). Maricha then assumed the form of a beautiful golden deer, which 
so captivated Sita (xlviii. 11) that Rama was induced to leave her with Lakshmana, 

as Duryodhana of the Maha-bharata ; and one cannot help comparing part of this description 
with Milton's portrait of Satan. The majestic imagery of the English poet stands out in 
striking contrast to the wild hyperbole of Valmfki. 

* It appears from chap. liii. of the Aranya-kanda, that Ravana was the son of Visravas, who 
was the son of the sage Pulastya, who was the son of Brahma. Hence Ravana was the bro- 
ther of the god Kuvera (though by a different mother); and in verse 30 he calls himself his 
brother and enemy. Both he and Kuvera are sometimes called Paulastya. Vibhishana and 
Kumbha-karna were also brothers of Rivana. According to the Puranas (Vishnn-p., p. 83, note) 
Ilavila was the mother of Kuvera, and Kesini of the other three brothers. The storj 
that Ravana so tyrannized over all the gods that he made each of them perforin some menial 
work in his household; thus Agni was his cook, Varuna supplied water. Kuvera furnished 
cash, Vayu swept the house, &c. (See Moore's Pantheon, p. 333. See also the Maha-bhirata 
account at p. 41 1, vol. IV. of Muir's Tex 

L 



74 ANALYSIS OF THE RAMAYANA. 

that he might catch the deer for her, or kill it. Mortally wounded by his arrow, the 
deer uttered cries for help, feigning Rama's voice (1. 22), which so alarmed Sita that 
she persuaded Lakshmana against his will to leave her alone and go to the assistance 
of his brother. Meanwhile Ravana approached in the guise of a religious mendicant. 
All nature seemed petrified with terror as he advanced (lii. 10, n) ; and when Sita's 
eyes fell on the stranger, she started (lii. 48), but was lulled to confidence by his 
mendicant's dress, and offered him food and water (lii. 51). Suddenly Ravana de- 
clared himself (liii). Then throwing off his disguise (lv. 3), he avowed his intention 
to make her his queen. Sita's indignation burst forth, but her wrath was powerless 
against the fierce Ravana, who took her up in his arms, placed her in his self-moving 
car, and bore her through the sky to his capital. As Sita was carried along, she 
invoked heaven and earth, mountains and streams, in the most beautiful language 
(lv. 43). The gods and saints came to look on, and were struck with horror at the 
violence done to her (lviii. 14, 15), but they stood in awe of the ravisher, and knew 
that this was part of the plan for his destruction. All nature shuddered, various pro- 
digies occurred, the sun's disk paled, darkness overspread the heavens (lviii. 16 — 43). 
It was the short-lived triumph of evil over good. Even the great Creator Brahma 
roused himself, and exclaimed, * Sin is consummated'* (lviii. 17). Ravana, how- 
ever, did not escape with his prize without a battle; for the semi -divine bird 
Jatayus, who had before promised to protect Sita (xx), and was awaked from his 
slumber by the rushing of Ravana' s car, placed himself in the way and attempted to 
rescue her, but was defeated and mortally wounded (lvi). Before they reached Lanka 
Sita contrived to drop among some monkey-chiefs, collected together on a mountain, 
her ornaments and upper garment (lx. 6). Arrived in the demon-city, Ravana forced 
Sita to inspect all the wonders and beauties of his capital (lxi), and then promised to 
make them hers, if she would consent to be his queen. Again indignantly rejected, 
he becomes enraged, and delivers her over to the guardianship of a troop of frightful 
Rakshasis or female furies, who are described as horrible in appearance and cannibal 
in their propensities (lxii. 29 — 38). Tormented by them, she must have died of de- 
spair, had not Brahma in compassion sent Indra to her with the god of Sleep f, and 
a vessel containing celestial food (lxiii. 7, 8) to support her strength. 

Terrible was the wrath of the usually gentle Rama when on his return he found 
that Sita had been carried off (lxix). At first he blamed Lakshmana for leaving her 
alone (lxvi), but was satisfied with his explanation; and the brothers then set off in pur- 

* As if he had said, ' It was necessary that the offence should come, that the salvation of 
man should be wrought.' (See Calcutta Review, XLV.) 

+ Similarly in the Odyssey (IV. 795) Minerva sends a dream to console and animate 
Penelope. 



THIRD BOOK OR ARANYA-KA'NDA. 75 

suit. They learned from the dying Jatayus, whom they soon encountered (and whom 
Rama at first suspected of having killed Sita, lxxii. u), the name of the ravisher of 
Sita (lxxii. 18), hut not his abode. They then commenced a long search, and pro- 
ceeding southwards fell in with a headless fiend (Kabandha) named Danu, the son of 
the goddess Sri (lxxv. 24) ; described as " covered with hair, vast as a mountain, 
without head or neck, having a mouth armed with immense teeth in the middle of 
his belly, arms a league long, and one enormous glaring eye in his breast" (lxxiv. 16). 
This terrific creature placed himself across the path of the two brothers, and seizing 
them in his arms would have devoured them, had they not succeeded in cutting off 
his arms, and thereby wounding him mortally. Before his death he told the brothers 
that they were his appointed deliverers, and narrated his history. He had propitiated 
Brahma by penance, and had received from him the gift of ' long life.' Then, filled 
with pride, he challenged Indra, whose thunderbolt striking his head and thighs 
caused them to enter his body (lxxv. 27). Having the gift of long life, he could not 
die in any ordinary way ; but Indra promised that he should be released in a battle 
with Rama and Lakshmana. After his death his body was burnt by the brothers, 
and reappearing in a heavenly shape, he recommended Rama to proceed southwards 
by the river Pampa, to the dwelling of Sugriva, king of the apes * (see p. 64), on 
the hill Rishyamuka, and to assist him in his war against his brother Bali, who had 
usurped his kingdom, carried off his wife Ruma (IV. viii. 21), and driven him to 
take refuge in the mountains (lxxvi). Rama accordingly journeyed on towards 
Rishyamuka, passing on the banks of the Pampa a deserted hermitage, in which 
still lingered an old female ascetic, named S'arvari, who only waited for his arrival 
to secure heaven by immolating herself f (lxxvii. 32). 

* Like Hanumat, his celebrated follower, he is described as Kama-riipf, i. e. endowed with 
the faculty of putting off his monkey-form and assuming any shape he pleased (lxxv. 66). 

t We may note here, that there are several instances of self-immolation by fire in the 
Rdmayana, although we do not read of the 'post-cremation' of widows. Here is another 
example that Rama was 'the expected one,' on whose coming the happiness of the human 
race depended. Old ascetics lived just long enough to see his day, and then, rejoicing, com- 
mitted themselves to the flames. The Kabandha only waited to be delivered by Rama ; and 
here, on the margin of a lake, was a hermitage, long since deserted by its occupants, but 
every thing in it preserved unfaded, and one old woman detained in life to greet him. Sin* 
ministered to him, and then entering the fire ascended to heaven. Rama's fate was to be 
always suffering and giving up self and earthly possessions, and yet looked for, welcomed, 
and honoured. (See Calcutta Review, XLV.) Some of the legends concerning Krishna are 
said to have been composed by distorting certain particulars in the life of Christ detailed in 
the Gospels ; but with greater plausibility might the history of Rama be thought to have been 
embellished from this source. 

L 2 



76 ANALYSIS OF THE RAM AY AN A. 

FOURTH BOOK or KISHKINDHYA-KANDA.— When the monkey-king Su- 
griva saw the two brothers approaching Rishyanraka, he took them for spies sent 
by his brother Bali, and in great alarm leaped from the summit of the hill and fled 
to the mountain Malaya, where he was joined by his whole army of monkeys (i. 16). 
Hanumat, son of the Wind, one of his followers, undertook to go back, and, assuming 
the form of a religious mendicant, gain the confidence of the two strangers. This he 
did, and proposed to take them before Sugriva. The brothers mounted on his back, 
and he carried them like the wind to Malaya (iii. 29), where they were introduced to 
Sugriva, who informed them that he had witnessed the flight of a Rakshasa carrying 
off Sita through the air, and picked up her upper vestment and jewels when they were 
dropped by her (v. 10). He could not, however, tell the name of the Rakshasa, nor 
the place of his abode (vi. 2). At the sight of the memorials of his wife, Rama was 
agitated with deep emotion, and promised, in return for this service, to conquer Bali 
and re-establish Sugriva on the throne. When Sugriva doubted of Rama's ability 
to cope with the terrible Bali, who had killed the great giant Dundubhi (himself 
more than a match for the Ocean and the mighty Himalaya, ix. 40. 52), Rama gave 
two proofs of his strength. First he kicked the huge skeleton of Dundubhi (which 
Sugriva had preserved), with one stroke of his foot, to the distance of a hundred 
yojanas (ix. 92), and then shot an arrow with such force that it pierced seven palm- 
trees, divided a mountain, and penetrated to the infernal regions, thence returning 
of its own accord, in the form of a shining swan, to his quiver (xi. 5, 6). 

Sugriva, convinced of Rama's power, provoked Bali to join battle. The latter was 
killed by one of Rama's arrows, and in dying acknowledged his fault and asked his 
brother's forgiveness, and commending his son Angada and his wife Tara to his care 
(xxi). The lamentations of Tara over her husband's body are beautifully described 
(xxii). Sugriva is now reinstated in the throne at Kishkindhya, his capital city (sup- 
posed to have been situated north of Mysore *), and invites Rama and Lakshmana 
to live with him there (xxv. 7). Rama, however, replies that he has promised not to 
enter any town for fourteen years (xxv. 9), and retires with his brother to the moun- 
tain Prasravana (xxvi. 1), where he continues during the rainy season, having received 
a promise from Sugriva that in the autumn he will assist him with his armies in 
conquering the Rakshasas and recovering Sita. 

The rainy season ended, Sugriva summons his armies ; and, in ordering them to 
search every corner of the earth, describes minutely the geography of India t- He 

* Somewhere in that strip of British territory which separates the kingdom of Mysore 
from the Nizam's territory. (Calcutta Review.) 

*t This is an interesting part of the poem. Much of the geography may be verified, but 
a great deal is probably fanciful. Countries and people are mentioned about whom nothing 
is accurately known. 






FOURTH BOOK OR KISHKINDHYa'-KA'NDA. — FIFTH BOOK &C\ 77 



marshals his troops in four great divisions. The first he sends north, under Vinata 
(xl. 14). The second, south, under various generals, especially Hanumat, Jambavat 
(son of Brahma, chief of the bears), Nila, Nala, Tara, and Angada, son of Bali, heir 
to the monkey-throne (xli. 2 — 5; liii. 6). The third, west, under Sushena (xliii. 2). 
The fourth, north, under S'atabali (xlv. 5). But his most particular directions are 
given to Hanumat and the party proceeding southwards (xli. 6) ; and such confidence 
has Rama in the courage and skill of Hanumat, that he gives him his ring to show 
to Sita, in case of his being successful in discovering her (xlii. 15). 

After a time three divisions of the army return re infectd (xlvii). That under 
Hanumat and Angada alone accomplish any thing, and meet with various adven- 
tures. Exploring the Vindhya mountains, they light on a huge magic cave, inha- 
bited by an anchorite named Swayam-prabha (li. 17), in which every single thing, 
including flowers, fruits, and trees, was made of gold. In order to escape from this 
enchanted grotto alive, they had to follow the directions of the anchorite, and cover 
up their faces (hasta-ruddha-mukhah, liii. 1). On emerging from the cavern and 
beholding the ocean before them they fall into despondency, fearing the anger of 
Sugriva, should they return without finding Sita. Angada, who as heir to the throne 
is the nominal leader of the party, breaks out into abuse of Sugriva (lv. 10), and 
counsels re-entering the cavern and starving themselves to death. Hanumat opposes 
all his eloquence to the evil counsels of Angada (liv), but without effect (lv). Hap- 
pily, however, in the midst of their difficulties they encounter the king of the vul- 
tures, Sampati, the elder brother of Jatayus (lvi), with his son Supars'wa (lxii). He 
tells them his own wonderful history (lviii — lxii), and informs them that Sita is at 
Lanka, in the palace of Ravana, and that his own sight is so piercing that he is able 
to see her there at the distance of a hundred yojanas off (lviii. 33). Overjoyed at 
this intelligence, Angada leads his army southwards to the margin of the sea, which 
separates India from Ceylon (lxiii. 27). 

FIFTH BOOK or SUNDARA-KANDA*.— On arriving at the sea-shore oppo- 
site to Ceylon, the army of monkeys holds a consultation. How were they to cross 
the straits, represented as a hundred yojanas in width? (i). Various monkeys offer 
to leap across, but only Hanumat is found capable of clearing the entire distance. 



* This is one of the longest and most tediously 'spun out' in the whole poem. Its pro- 
lixity, however, is to the Hindu mind a great recommendation. Otherwise there is nothing 
to distinguish this book as 'par excellence,' 'the beautiful" book of the poem. The venera- 
tion in which it is held by so many millions of our Indian fellow-subjects t<> this very day 
must be my apology for following out the chain of absurdities to the end. 



78 ANALYSIS OF THE RA'ma'yANA. 

He undertakes the feat without hesitation, and promises to search for Sita in Ra- 
vana* s capital (hi). In flying through the air he meets with two or three adventures, 
the description of which, for wild exaggeration and absurd fiction, can hardly be 
matched in any child's fairy-tale extant. His progress is first opposed by the mother 
of the Nagas, a Rakshasi called Surasa, who attempts to swallow him bodily, and, 
in order to take in the enormously increasing bulk of the monkey-general, distends 
her mouth to a hundred leagues *. Upon this Hanumat suddenly contracts himself 
to the size of a thumb, and without more ado darts through her huge carcase (vi. 25), 
and comes out at her right ear (lvi. 27). The mountain Mainaka (called also Hiranya- 
nabha) next raises itself in the middle of the sea, to form a resting-place for his feet 
(vii). Lastly, another monstrous Rakshasi, named Sinhika, hoping to appease her 
appetite by a suitable meal (viii. 2), proceeds deliberately to swallow Hanumat, who 
plunges into her body, tears out her entrails, and slips out again with the rapidity of 
thought (viii. 10, 11). 

At length Hanumat reaches the opposite coast (ix), and at night reduces his before 
colossal form to the size of a cat (Vrishadans'a-pramana, ix. 47), that he may creep 
into the marvellous city of Lanka, built by Vis'wakarman f, and containing within 
itself all the treasures and rarities of the world. He contemplates the magnificence 
of the capital of the Rakshasas, and visits various palaces (xii. 6 — 16), examining 
their inmates. Some of the Rakshasas fill him with disgust, but others were beau- 
tiful to look upon ; some were noble in their aspect and behaviour, others the reverse 
(xi. 15). "Some had long, arms and frightful shapes; some were prodigiously fat, 
others excessively thin; some dwarfish, others enormously tall and humpbacked; 
some had only one eye, others only one ear ; some enormous paunches, and flaccid, 
pendent breasts ; others long projecting teeth, and crooked thighs ; some could assume 
many forms at will; others were beautiful and of great splendour" (x. 18, 19. See 
also xvii. 24, &c; where they are further described as biped, triped, quadruped, with 
heads of serpents, donkeys, horses, elephants, and every other imaginable deformity). 
After inspecting the palaces of Kumbha-karna and Vibhishana (xii. 8), Hanumat 
arrives at that of Ravana. The residence of the demon-king was itself a city, and in 
the midst of it the self-moving car Pushpaka (half a yojana in length, and the same 
in width), which contained within itself the actual palace of Ravana, and all the 

* A kind of 'swelling- match' takes place between Hanumat and Surasa\ The latter com- 
mences by opening her mouth to the moderate dimensions of ten leagues (yojanas). Upon 
which Hanumat distends himself to the extent of twenty. Surasa" then enlarges the aperture 
of her jaws to thirty leagues, but still finds it impossible to swallow the monkey-chief, who 
increases his bulk to forty leagues, and so on. 

t The Hindu Vulcan. 



FIFTH BOOK OR SUNDARA-Ka'nDA. 79 

women's apartments (xiii. 2. 6, &c; xv), described with the most extravagant hyper- 
bole. There he beholds Havana himself asleep on a crystal throne (xiv); but nowhere 
can he detect the hiding-place of Sita. At last he discovers her in a grove of As'okas, 
guarded by female Rakshasas of hideous and disgusting shapes (xvii). There she 
sat like a penitent on the ground in profound reverie, dressed in the garb of widow- 
hood, without ornaments, her hair collected in a single braid* (xviii. 10, 11). Hidden 
in the trees, he becomes a spectator of an interview between the demon-king and 
Sita. Ravana presses her to yield to his wishes t (xxii). She sternly rebukes him, 
and exhorts him to save himself from Rama's vengeance (xxiii). He is lashed to 
fury by her contempt, gives her two months to consider, and swears that if she then 
refuses him, "he will have her cut into pieces for his breakfast" J (xxiv. 8). Mean- 
while he delivers her over to the female furies, her guardians, who first attempt to 
coax, and then menace her. " Her only reply is, ' I cannot renounce my husband, 
who to me is a divinity' " (xxv. 12 ; see last note, p. 56). The rage of the female demons 
is then frightful ; some threaten to devour her, some to strangle her : but she only- 
bursts forth into long and rapturous praises of her husband, and expressions of devo- 
tion to him (xxvi. xxviii). One good Rakshasi||, however (named Trijata), advises 
them to desist, relates a dream, and prophesies the destruction of Ravana (xxvii). 

After this the Rakshasis go to sleep ; and Hanumat, seated in the branches of a 
neighbouring tree, discovers himself (xxx. 13). At first Sita suspects some new 
snare ; but Hanumat shows her Rama's ring, gains her confidence, consoles and ani- 
mates her, satisfies all her inquiries, and obtains a token from her to take back to 
her husband, viz. a single jewel which she had preserved in her braided hair (xxxvi. 
72, 73). He offers to carry her on his back, and transport her at once into the pre- 
sence of Rama (xxxv. 23) ; but she modestly replies that she cannot voluntarily submit 
to touch the person of any one but her husband (xxxv. 45). Hanumat then takes 
his leave ; but, before rejoining his companions, gives the Rakshasas a proof of what 
they were to expect from the prowess of a hero who had such a messenger at his 
command. He devastates the As'oka grove, tears up the trees, destroys the houses, 
grinds the hills to powder (xxxvii. 41), and then challenges the Rakshasas to fight. 
Ravana dispatches an army of 80,000 Rakshasas against him, which Hanumat de- 

* " She appeared like Rohinf oppressed by the planet Mars, or like memory clouded, or 
prosperity ruined, or hope departed, or knowledge obstructed" (xviii. 6, &c). 

+ When one remembers that Ravana had ten heads, one is tempted to ask with which of 
his mouths he made love ? 

% Dwabhyam urdhwam tu masabhyam bhartaiam mam anichchhatfin, Mama twain pnita- 
rasaya stidas chhetsyanti khandasah. 

|| In the Maha-bharata (Vana-parva, 16146) she is called Dharma -jn.-i. 



80 ANALYSIS OF THE Ra'ma'yANA. 

feats (xxxviii). He then sends against him the mighty Rakshasa Jambu-mali, and 
after him the sons of his own ministers, and five other generals in succession ; all of 
whom are killed by Hanumat (xxxix. xl. xli). Next Aksha, the heir-apparent, marches 
against the heroic monkey, wounds him, but meets in the end with the same fate as 
the others (xlii). Lastly, Ravana despatches the bravest of his sons, Indrajit, to the 
battle ; and Hanumat at length falls into the hands of the Rakshasas, struck to the 
ground by the enchanted arrow of Brahma (xliv; see note *, p. 27). He is then taken 
before Ravana (xlv), and announcing himself as the ambassador of Sugriva, warns 
the ravisher of Sita that nothing can save him from the vengeance of Rama (xlvii). 
Ravana, infuriated, orders him to be put to death ; but Vibhishana reminds his bro- 
ther that the life of ambassadors is sacred (xlviii). Upon this, it is decided to punish 
Hanumat by setting fire to his tail, as monkeys hold that appendage in great esteem 
(xlix. 3). This is done (xlix. 5) ; but Sita adjures the fire to be good to her protector 
(xlix. 21 — 24). Hanumat is then marched in procession through the city; sud- 
denly he contracts himself, slips out of the hands of his guards, mounts on the roofs 
of the palaces, and with his burning tail sets the whole city on fire (1). He then 
satisfies himself that Sita has not perished in the conflagration, reassures her, bids 
her adieu, and, springing from the mountain Arishta (which, staggering under the 
shock, and crushed by his weight, sinks into the earth), .darts through the sky, rejoins 
his companions on the opposite coast, and recounts to them the narrative of his ad- 
ventures (liv. lv. lvi). The monkeys, rejoined by Hanumat, set out for Kishkindhya, 
and on their way receive permission from Angada to signalize the success of their 
expedition by running riot in ' the grove of honey' (Madhu-vana), guarded by the 
monkey Dadhi-mukha ; where, feasting to their hearts' content, they speedily intoxi- 
cate themselves (lx). After this escapade they return to Sugriva, and then for the 
first time Rama learns the hiding-place of Sita (lxvi). Hanumat describes his inter- 
view with her, and, to attest the truth of his story, gives Sita's token to Rama, who 
praises him (lxx), inquires about the fortifications of Lanka (lxxii), and soon marches 
southward, attended by Sugriva and his army of monkeys, to deliver Sita; Nila being 
sent on with a detachment in advance (lxxiii). 

Crossing the Vindhya and Malaya mountains, they soon arrive at Mahendra, on 
the borders of the sea, where their progress is for the present stayed (lxxiv. lxxv). 
Meanwhile Ravana consults with his ministers ; and Nikasha, his mother, advises 
Vibhishana to recommend the restoration of Sita (lxxvi). But Prahasta, Indrajit, 
Virupaksha, and others, counsel war, and promise to kill Rama and Lakshmana, and 
exterminate the apes (lxxix. lxxx). After a long altercation, Ravana is so enraged 
with his brother Vibhishana, who again and again urges conciliation, that he rises in 
a fury and kicks him from his seat (lxxxvii. 2). Smarting under this outrage, Vibhi- 



FIFTH BOOK OR SUNDARA-KANDA. 81 

shana left Lanka, and flew through the air to Kailasa*, to the court of his relative 
Kuvera (god of Riches), where the god S'iva also at that time happened to be present. 
The latter directs him to join Rama and desert Ravana ; which Vibhishana accord- 
ingly does (lxxxix. 40 — 58). He is at first taken for a spy, and Sugriva recommends 
Rama to put him to death (lxxxix. 70); but Rama accepts him as an ally, and em- 
braces himf (xcii. 1). 

They then consult together how to transport the army across the sea. For three 
days and nights Rama underwent rigorous penance on the shore, hoping to propitiate 
the god of the Ocean, and induce him to appear (xciii. 1); but the Ocean remained 
unimpressible, until Rama,*enraged, shot one of his fiery arrows into the water, filling 
the sea-monsters with terror, wounding the Danavas in the depths of Patala, and 
causing such a commotion in the deep, that the god was forced to present himself, 
attended by his marine ministers (xciv. 1), and promised to support a pier or bridge J, 
by means of which the army might be transported across. 

Nala, son of Vis'wakarman, was charged with the construction of the pier (xciv. 15). 
Thousands of monkey bridge-builders, flying through the sky in every direction, tore 
up rocks and trees and threw them into the water. In bringing huge crags from the 
Himalayas, some were accidentally dropped, and remain to this day monuments of 
the exploit ||. At length a pier was formed twenty yojanas long and ten wide (xcv. 
11 — 15), by which the whole army crossed, Vibhishana taking the lead. The gods, 
Rishis, Pitris, &c, looked on, and uttered the celebrated prophecy — 'As long as the 
sea shall remain, so long shall this pier (setu) endure, and the fame of Rama be 
proclaimed' § (xcv. 35). 

* In Hindi! mythology Kailasa is represented as the abode of both Kuvera and S'iva. 

t It appears that when along with Ravana he propitiated BrahmjC by his penances, the 
god granted them both boons ; and the boon chosen by Vibhishana was, that he should never, 
even in the greatest calamity, set his mind on wickedness. (See MaM-bha>. III. 15918.) 

+ The Ocean at first objected to a regular set 10 or embankment (xciv. 8), though a pier 
(described as a setu) was afterwards constructed : the line of rocks in the channel is certainly 
known in India as Rama-setu. In maps it is called 'Adam's bridge.' 

|| Every where in India are scattered isolated blocks, attributed by the natives to Rama's 
bridge-builders. More than this, the hill Govardhana, near Muttra, and the whole Kymar 
range in central India are firmly believed to have arisen from the same cause. 

§ Rama also made the same prophecy, calling it the bridge of Nala. (Yuddha-k. cviii. 16.) 
"In the midst of the arm of the sea is the island Ramesurum, or the pillar of Rama, of as 
great repute and renown as the pillars of the western Hercules. There to this day stands a 
temple of massive Cyclopean workmanship, said to have been built by the hero, the idol of 
which is washed daily with water from the Ganges. From the highest point is a oomilUMfld- 
ing view of the ocean, and the interminable black line of rocks stretching across the golf of 

M 



82 ANALYSIS OF THE RAMAYANA. 

SIXTH BOOK or YUDDHA-KANDA.— As soon as Rama's army has crossed 
into the island of Lanka, Ravana dispatches two spies (Siika and Sarana) disguised 
as monkeys into the enemy's camp (i. 6). Vibhishana discovers them, and wishes to 
have them killed, but Rama spares their lives, and sends them back after showing 
them all his army (i. 31). They return to Lanka, and enumerate to Ravana, from 
the top of his palace, all the heroes whom he sees preparing to fight against him in 
the plains below * (ii. iii. iv). He is angry with them for praising the courage of the 
enemy, and, dismissing them with reproaches (v. 13), sends Sardula and other spies 
disguised as before. They are discovered, beaten, and forced to return like those 
who preceded them (v. 25). Ravana now determines to make a last effort to induce 
Sita to yield to his proposals, and causes to be made by magic a false head of Rama 
and a false bow, which he casts at her feet, pretending that he has killed her husband 
and destroyed his army (vii). Sita is at first overwhelmed with grief; but Ravana 
being suddenly called away by one of his ministers, the head vanishes, and a Rakshasi 
named Sarama consoles Sita (ix). A terrible sound of drums and conch-shells is 
now heard in Rama's camp, the army preparing for the attack (x. 35). The noise 
alarms Ravana, who summons his counsellors ; and an old minister, his maternal 
grandfather, named Malyavat, advises him to make peace (xi. 34). Ravana is indig- 
nant with Malyavat, and proceeds to organize the defence of the city (xii). Rama 
also makes ready for the attack. He learns from spies the position of the enemy 
and the plan of their defence (xiii), and ascends with his chiefs the hill Suvela, which 
commands Lanka. After ascertaining the position of the Rakshasas (xiv. xv), he 
distributes his army accordingly, reserving to himself the task of attacking Ravana 
in person by the northern gate of the city (xiii. 29). But first he sends Angada to 
summon Ravana to restore Sita (xvi. 83) ; which he refuses to do, and in his fury 
gives orders to seize and punish the envoy. Angada breaks away from the Rakshasas 
who hold him, kicks down the top of the palace, and flies back (xvi. 90), Rama's 
army now approaches the city, which was situated on the hill Trikuta (xv. 22), and 
several skirmishes and engagements take place (xvii. xviii). 

Manaar. Thither, from all parts of India, wander the pilgrims, who are smitten with the 
wondrous love of travel to sacred shrines. From Chuteerkote, near the Jumna\ it is roughly 
calculated to be no less than one hundred stages. We have conversed with some who have 
accomplished the great feat : but many never return ; they either die by the way, or their 
courage and strength evaporates in some roadside hermitage. Whatever may be its origin, 
there is the reefy barrier, compelling every vessel, from or to the mouths of the Ganges, to 
circumnavigate the island of Ceylon." (See Calcutta Review, XLV.) 

* This will remind the classical scholar of a similar enumeration of the Grecian warriors 
by Helen in Homer III. 165, &c. 



SIXTH BOOK OR YUDDHA-KANDA. 83 

In one of these, Indrajit, Ravana's most powerful son, makes himself invisible by 
means of his skill in magic, and pierces with his enchanted weapons, in the form of 
serpents *, a great number of warriors, and among them Rama and Lakshmana, who 
fall, covered with wounds, and appear to be dead (xix. xx). The whole army is in 
despair at the sight of the fallen brothers; and Sita is forced by her cruel guardians 
into the car Pushpaka, that she may be transported to the field of battle, and made 
to witness the heart-rending spectacle of her husband and brother-in-law apparently 
lifeless (xxii; Calc. ed. xlvii). But they are not dead. They are only spell-bound, 
as well as wounded by the magic arrows. Rama is roused from his stupor by the 
Wind, who whispers in his ear that he is Vishnu incarnate t (xxvi. 9). Rama then 
invokes Garuda, who delivers the two brothers from the serpent-like arrows, and 
heals their wounds (xxvi. 17). 

The battle recommences, and Ravana, who has made several abortive attacks by 
means of his generals Dhumraksha, Akampana, and Prahasta (all of whom are killed, 
xxviii — xxxii), resolves to take the field in person, notwithstanding the entreaties of 
his favourite wife Mandodari, who advises him to restore Sita (xxxiii). He sallies forth 
accordingly, and attacks and wounds successively Sugriva (xxxvi. 15), Hanumat (45), 
Nila (56), and Lakshmana (86) ; but being in his turn wounded by Rama, who 
rescues his brother (xxxvi. 115), Ravana is forced to re-enter Lanka, humiliated and 
dispirited. 

Ravana then decides on availing himself of the services of his gigantic brother 
Kumbha-karna ; but how to awake him is the difficulty, as he is buried in deep sleep 
for six months together (xxxvii. 19), and then only awakes for a short time, that he 
may gorge himself with enormous quantities of food^. The messengers try to enter 

* According to the Hanuman-njltaka (p. 91 Calc. ed.) these weapons were a kind of rope, 
which when thrown at an enemy became transformed into a serpent and retained him in its 
folds. This play agrees with the 108th chapter of the Yuddka-kanda in calling Indrajit, the 
wielder of these weapons, by his first name of Megha-n^da. Indrajit's victory over Indra 
is described Uttara-kanda xxxiv. (Calc. ed.). His original name of Megha-nada was then 
changed by Brahm^ to Indrajit. 

t This is probably an interpolation ; it is wanting in the Calcutta edition, where Rama 
recovers consciousness while the monkeys are watching him. Muir's Texts, IV. pp. _}S; 

X Ramayana xxxvii. 14 (Calc. ed. lxi. 28) makes his long slumber the consequence of a 
curse laid upon him by Brahuui ; but according to the Maha-bharata lie had performed 
penance, like his brothers Ravana and Vibhfshana ; and being allowed, like them. t<> ehoose 
a boon, he asked for long slumber (mahatf nidril). (See Maha-bluir. III. 15916. See also 
rttara-kanda, ch. x. Calc. ed.) His figure is a favourite one in village repreeentationfl of 
the siege of Lank£, and he is generally exhibited asleep. (Calc. Rev. XLV.) The description 
of him in the Ramayana is ridiculously extravagant and exaggerated. 

M 2 



84 ANALYSIS OF THE RA'ma'yANA. 

his room, but are blown away from the door by the wind caused by the deep breath- 
ing of the sleeping monster (xxxvii. 24). At last, after violent efforts, they force an 
entrance ; and ten thousand Rakshasas make every sort of din in his ears, by beating 
drums, &c. Then they hammer his limbs with mallets, dance upon him, cause a 
thousand elephants to walk over his body, pile heaps of food under his very nose ; 
but all without effect. Nothing avails but the touch of some beautiful women, who 
eventually succeed in rousing him * (xxxvii. 63). Kumbha-karna tries to dissuade 
his brother to desist from any further contest with Rama, giving him to understand 
that he is Vishnu incarnate (xl. .50) ; but the infatuated Ravana declares that if Rama 
be very Vishnu he will kill him (xli. 22). Kumbha-karna then consents to go out 
to battle. He displays extraordinary valour, routs, wounds, and even devours t thou- 
sands of the monkey-army, but is ultimately conquered and killed by Rama (xlvi). 

Ravana is overcome with grief at his brother's death (xlvii. 2), and next sends four 
of his own sons to the battle, viz. Trisiras, Devantaka, Narantaka, and Atikaya, who 
were all slain (xlviii — li). Indrajit, the bravest of his sons, then took the field again, 
and again by means of his magical weapons, inflicted terrible wounds on all the 
leaders of Rama's army; viz. Sugriva, Angada, Nila, Jambavat, Nala, Tara, Sarabha, 
Sushena, Panasa, Gandhamadana, Dwivida, Kes'ari, Sampati, Vinata, Rishabha; as 
well as on Rama and Lakshmana (lii. liii. 10 — 13), leaving them for dead. At this 
achievement Ravana and the Rakshasas were overjoyed, and the monkey-army in 
despair ; but Vibhishana and Hanumat still survive, and, visiting the battle-field at 
night (liii. 7), find the chief of the bears (Jambavat) covered with wounds, but still 
conscious. He entreats Hanumat to fly towards the Himalaya mountains. There, 
on a golden hill called Rishabha, which was the very crest of Kailasa (liii. 34, &c), 
he would find four medicinal herbs, by virtue of which all the dead and wounded 
might be restored (liii. 39). Accordingly Hanumat flies there; but the divine plants, 
suspecting his object, render themselves invisible (liii. 59). Upon this the irritated 
monkey tears up the mountain-peak, and bears it, with all its contents, into the camp 
of Rama and Lakshmana ; who, with all the dead and wounded chiefs, are instantly 
restored by the exhalations issuing from the healing plants (liii. 67). After this the 
chiefs of Rama's army make a grand night-attack on Lanka, and fire the town (liv). 
A terrific melee ensues, in which the sons of Kumbha-karna, Kumbha and Nikumbha, 

* In the Calcutta version of the Hanuman-nataka, they awake him by pouring hot oil into 
his ear-holes (p. 87). 

t Like all the Rakshasas, he is cannibal in his propensities. In his youthful days he was 
wont to go about eating Rishis (Uttara-k. viii. 38, Calc. ed.) ; and here he is described as 
seizing the monkeys in his arms, and swallowing them whole, though they manage to escape 
through his ears and nose (xlvi. 33, 34). 



SIXTH BOOK OR YUDDHA-KANDA. 85 

and another demon, Makaraksha, are slain »(lv. 87; lvi. lvii. lviii. 49). Lanka would 
now have fallen, had not Indrajit made a sally and routed the monkey-army. He 
then again turns his skill in magic to account by creating a false image of Sita, which 
he carries in his car, and kills before Hanumat (lx. 27). The monkey-army is terri- 
fied, and Rama, when he hears the news, becomes unconscious (lxii. 10). Lakshmana 
revives him ; and Vibhishana, who knows his nephew's arts, explains the deceit and 
reassures them (lxii. lxiii). At last Indrajit, notwithstanding his magic and his 
valour, is killed in a great combat with Lakshmana (lxvii — lxx). Ravana is beside 
himself with grief and fury at the death of his brave son, and is about to kill Sita in 
revenge, but his ministers prevent him (lxxii). 

As a last resource, Ravana determines to go out again in person to the battle 
(lxxv). He skirmishes a little with Rama, both heroes attacking each other with 
magic arrows (Lxxix). Ravana then engages with Lakshmana, whom he transfixes 
through the breast with a fiery enchanted dart (lxxx. 34). Rama, infuriated at the 
fall of his brother, after trying in vain to extract the dart, attacks Ravana, and a 
drawn battle ensues (Lxxxi). The physician (vaidya) Sushena is then sent for, who 
examines the wound, pronounces that Lakshmana is not dead, and that a celebrated 
medicinal plant (mahaushadhi), growing on the northern mountain Gandha-madana, 
will cure him (lxxxii. 37). Hanumat undertakes to fetch it, and accordingly flies 
there. 

Passing over Ayodhya, and Nandigrama, he is observed by Bharata, who seeing a 
strange object in the sky prepares to shoot it (lxxxii. 94) ; but Hanumat descends, 
and, arresting the arrow, gives Bharata tidings of his brothers. On reaching Gandha- 
madana, he is attacked by a terrible Rakshasa named Kala-nemi, sent by Ravana to 
kill Hanumat. This demon first takes the form of an anchorite, and persuades Ha- 
numat to drink some water out of a lake, where there is a monstrous crocodile. 
Hanumat, however, kills both the crocodile and Kala-nemi (lxxxii. 158. 183), and 
afterwards destroys 30,000 Gandharvas, who attack him (Lxxxiii. 19). He then looks 
about for the plant, and finding it nowhere (21), takes up the whole mountain bodily 
in his arms (lxxxiii. 25), and deposits it, with its rocks, metals, forests, lions, ele- 
phants, and tigers, at the feet of Sushena (40), who knows well where to look for the 
plant, gathers it, and makes Lakshmana breathe its healing exhalations (56, 57). The 
monkeys then obtain leave to ascend the mountain, and regale themselves with its 
fruits and examine its hermitages (lxxxiv. 4). After which Hanumat flies back with 
the mountain, and restores it to its place, killing with his feet and tail some more 
Rakshasas, who attack him on his way while he carries the mountain, and is unable 
to use his hands (lxxxiv. 23, 24). 

At length the great battle between Rama and Ravana takes place. The gods 



86 ANALYSIS OF THE RA'ma'yANA. 

assemble to take the side of the formes, and all the demons and evil spirits back 
their own champion (lxxxvii. 8). Ravana is mounted on a magic car, drawn by horses 
having human faces (manushya-vadanair hayaih, lxxxvi. 3) ; and, in order that the 
two champions may fight on an equality, Indra sends his own car, driven by his cha- 
rioteer Matali, for the use of Rama (lxxxvi. 8). Both armies cease fighting, that they 
may look on (xci. 2) ; but the gods and demons in the sky, taking the part of either 
warrior, renew their ancient strife * (lxxxvii. 6, 7). The heroes now overwhelm each 
other with arrows. Rama cuts off a hundred heads from Ravana successively ; but 
no sooner is one cut off than another appears in its place f (xcii. 24), and the battle, 
which had already lasted seven days and seven nights without interruption, might 
have been endlessly protracted, had not Matali informed Rama that Ravana was not 
vulnerable in the head (xcii. 41). Thereupon Rama shot off the terrible arrow of 
Brahma J, given to him by the sage Agastya, and the demon-king fell dead (xcii. 58). 
As usual, the old hackneyed prodigies precede his fall (see note, p. 28) ; and when 
the victory is consummated a perfect deluge of flowers covers the conqueror. The 
lamentations of the women over Ravana, and especially of his favourite wife 
Mandodari, are well described (xci v. xcv). The generous Rama causes magnificent 
obsequies to be performed over the body of his enemy, which is duly consumed 
by fire || (xcvi), and then places Vibhishana on the throne of Lanka (xcvii. 15). 
Rama then sends Hanumat with a message to Sita, and afterwards Vibhishana 
brings her into his presence in a litter (sivika) ; but Rama allows her to come before 
him on foot, that she may be seen by all the army. The monkeys and bears crowd 
round her, admiring her incomparable beauty, the cause of so much toil, danger, 
and suffering to themselves § (xcix. 15, 16). On seeing her, Rama is deeply moved; 
three feelings distract him, joy, grief, and anger (xcix. 19), and he does not ad- 

* This is just what takes place in the Iliad before the great battle between Achilles and 
Hector, the gods taking their respective places on either side (II. XX). 

+ This reminds one of Hercules and the Hydra. 

X Here called paitdmaham astram, and described as having the wind for its feathers, the 
fire and the sun for its point, the air for its body, and the mountains Meru and Mandara for 
its weight (xcii. 45). It had the very convenient property of returning to its owner's quiver 
after doing its work. (See xcii. 59, and note *, p. 27.) There appear to have been various 
forms of this unerring weapon, as it was also used by Indrajit against Hanumat in Sundara- 
kanda xliv. We may suppose it to have been another arrow consecrated by the same for- 
mula, addressed to Brahma\ 

|| Contrast this with Achilles' treatment of the fallen Hector. 

§ The whole scene is very similar to that in Iliad III. 121, &c, where Helen shows her- 
self on the rampart, and calls forth much the same kind of admiration. 



SIXTH BOOK OR YUDDHA-KANDA. 87 

dress his wife. Sita, conscious of her purity, is hurt by his cold reception of 
her and bursts into tears, uttering only the words, 'ha aryaputra' (xcix. 52). Rama 
then haughtily informs her, that having satisfied his honour by the destruction of 
the ravisher, he can do no more. In short, he declines to take back his wife, whom 
he suspects of contamination, after so long a residence in Ravana's capital (c). Sita 
asserts her innocence in the most dignified and touching language, and begs Laksh- 
mana to prepare a pyre (ci. 20), that she may prove her purity. She enters the flames, 
invoking Agni (ci. 30) ; upon which all the gods with the old king Das'aratha appear 
(cii. 2), and reveal to Rama his divine nature *, telling him that he is Xarayana (cii. 12), 
and that Sita is Lakshmi (30). Agni, the god of Fire, then presents himself, holding 
Sita, whom he places in Rama's arms unhurt t (ciii. 1 — 5). Rama is now overjoyed, 
and declares that he only consented to the ordeal that he might establish his wife's 
innocence in the eyes of the world (ciii. 17). The old king Das'aratha then blesses , 
his son, gives him good advice, and returns to heaven (civ) ; while Indra, at the 
request of Rama, restores to life all the monkeys and bears killed during the war (cv). 
Rama and Lakshmana, along with Vibhishana, Sugriva, and all the allies, now mount 
the self-moving car Pushpaka, which contained a whole palace or rather city within 
itself, and set out on their return to Ayodhya ; Rama, to beguile the way as they 
travelled through the sky, describing to Sita all the scenes of their late adventures 
lying beneath their feet % (cviii). On their reaching the hermitage of Bharadwaja 
at Prayaga, Rama stops the car; and the fourteen years of his banishment having 
now expired (cix), sends forward Hanumat to announce his return to Bharata, who 
was still living at Nandigrama, undergoing austere penance. Bharata hastens to 
meet his brother, and, in token of delivering over the power which he still holds on 
trust for him, places on Rama's feet the two shoes (cxi. 46 ; and compare note, p. 70). 

* He never appears to be conscious of it, until the gods enlighten him. (See cii. 10.) This 
is not the case with Krishna in the Maha-bharata. 

t The whole description of SlU's repudiation by Rama is certainly one of the finest scenes 
in the Ramayana. These touches of nature surprise us constantly in the midst of a wilder- 
ness of exaggeration. 

+ Kalidasa, who must have lived at least five hundred years after Vjllmiki, devotes nearly 
the whole of the 13th chapter of the Raghu-vansa to this subject, which he makes a conve- . 
nient pretext for displaying his geographical and topographical knowledge, as in the Megha- 
duta. Bhava-bhuti does the same in the 7th act of his drama, Maha-vii-a-charitra ; and / 
Murari the same in his play on the same subject. It may be suspected that a good deal of 
matter at the end of the Yuddha-kanda is modern, as the descriptions do not always ig 
with what precedes. R.Cma here calls Indrajit by his original name of Megha-n:i<la (oviii. 9 ; 
and compare note *, p. 83). 



88 ANALYSIS OF THE RA'ma'yaNA. 

Rama and the three brothers are now once more reunited* (cxi); and Rama, accom- 
panied by them and by Sita and the monkeys, who assume human forms (cxii. 28), 
makes a magnificent entry into Ayodhya. He is then solemnly crowned, associates 
Lakshmana in the empire, and, before dismissing his allies, bestows splendid presents 
on them (cxii). Hanumat, at his own request, receives as a reward the gift of per- 
petual life and youth (cxii. 101). Every one returns happy and loaded with gifts to 
his own home, and Rama commences a glorious reign at Ayodhya (cxiii). 

SEVENTH BOOK or UTTARA-K AND A.— Although this book (as we have 
already stated) is probably a comparatively modern addition, a short account of its 
contents is here given f. It commences with a history of Ravana and the Rakshasas ; 
for an epitome of which, see Dr. Muir's Sanskrit Texts, vol. IV. p. 413. Rama being 
duly crowned at Ayodhya, seemed likely to enter upon a life of quiet enjoyment with 
his wife. But this would not have satisfied the Hindu conception of the impossi- 
bility of finding rest in this world (see p. 28 of this volume), nor harmonised with 
the idea of the man born to suffering and self-denial. Inquiring one day what his 
subjects thought of his deeds, he was told that they approved every thing but his 
taking back his wife after her long residence with Ravana. The scrupulously correct 
and over-sensitive Rama, though convinced of his wife's fidelity, and though she was 
soon to become a mother, felt quite unable to allow cause of offence in such a matter. 
Torn by contending feelings, he at last determined on sending her for the rest of 
her life to the hermitage of Valmiki (Calc. ed. chap, lv) ; whither indeed she had 
herself before expressed a wish to go for rest and refreshment. Lakshmana con- 
ducted her there, and then broke to her the sad news of her husband's determination 
to live apart from her. In the hermitage of the poet were born her twin sons, Kus'a 
and Lava ; who, though deserted by their father, bore upon their persons the marks 
of their high birth, and being taught to recite the Ramayana, unconsciously cele- 
brated his actions. (See p. 60.) At length one day the twins wandered accidentally 
to Ayodhya, where reciting their poem before their father, they were recognised by 
him. Once more he sent for Sita to his presence, that in a public assembly she 
might assert her innocence before the people. She was brought by Valmiki himself, 
and having adjured the goddess Earth to attest her purity, the ground opened and 
received her (Calc. ed. chap. ex). Rama had but this one devoted wife ; and now 

* This reunion forms the most striking scene in the dramatic representation at the annual 
festival of the Dasserah in the north-west provinces, and is called 'Bharat-milap.' 

t It forms the subject of Bhava-bhuti's celebrated drama, the Uttara-R^ma-charitra. A 
great deal of the former narrative appears to be repeated in parts of this book. 



SEVENTH BOOK OR UTTARA-Ka'nDA. 80 

that she was gone he eould not remain behind. But he did not die a natural death. 
The story of his translation to heaven is thus told * ; " One day Time, in the form of 
an ascetic, comes to his palace-gate (cxvi. 1), and asks, as the messenger of the great 
Rishi (Brahma), to see Rama (3). He is admitted and received with honour (9), hut 
says, when asked what he has to communicate, that his message must be delivered 
in private, and that any one who witnesses the interview is to lose his life (13). Rama 
informs Lakshmana of all this, and desires him to stand outside. Time then tells 
Rama (cxvii. 1) that he has been sent by Brahma to say that when he (Rama, i. e. 
Vishnu), after destroying the worlds, was sleeping on the ocean, he had formed him 
( Brahma) from the lotus springing from his navel, and committed to him the work 
of creation (4 — 7); that he (Brahma) had then entreated Rama to assume the func- 
tion of Preserver, and that the latter had in consequence become Vishnu, being born 
as the son of Aditi (10), and had determined to deliver mankind by destroying Ra- 
vana, and to live on earth ten thousand and ten hundred years : that period, adds 
Time, was now on the eve of expiration (13), and Rama could either, at his pleasure, 
prolong his stay on earth, or ascend to heaven and rule over the gods (15). Rama 
replies (18), that he had been born for the good of the three worlds, and would now 
return to the place whence he had come, as it was his function to fulfil the purposes 
of the gods. While they are speaking, the irritable Rishi Durvasas comes, and insists 
on seeing Rama immediately, under a threat, if refused, of cursing Rama and all his 
family (cxviii. 1). Lakshmana, preferring to save his kinsman, though knowing that 
his own death must be the consequence of interrupting the interview of Rama with 
Time, enters the palace, and reports the Rishi's message to Rama (8). Rama comes 
out ; and when Durvasas has got the food he wished, and departed, Rama reflects 
with great distress on the words of Time, which require that Lakshmana should 
die (16). Lakshmana, however (cxix. 2), exhorts Rama not to grieve, but to abandon 
him, and not break his own promise. The counsellors concurring in this advice (9), 
Rama abandons Lakshmana, who goes to the river Sarayu, suppresses all his senses, 
and is conveyed bodily by Indra to heaven. The gods are delighted by the arrival of 
the fourth part of Vishnu (19). Rama then resolves to instal Bharata as his suc- 
cessor, and retire to the forest and follow Lakshmana (cxx. 1). Bharata, however, 
refuses the succession, and determines to accompany his brother (8). Rama's sub- 
jects are filled with grief, and say they also will follow him wherever he goes (12). 
Messengers are sent to S'atrughna, the other brother, and he also resolves to accom- 
pany Rama (exxi. 1 — 14); who at length sets out in procession from his capital with 
all the ceremonial appropriate to the 'great departure' (mahd-prasthdna, czxii. l), 

* I have extracted this from Dr. Muir's Sanskrit Texts, vol. I V. p. 407. 

N 



90 ANALYSIS OP THE Ra'maYANA. 

silent, indifferent to external objects, joyless, with S'ri on his right, the goddess Earth 
on his left, Energy in front, attended by all his weapons in human shapes, by the 
Vedas in the forms of Brahmans, by the Gayatri, the Omkara, the Vashatkara, by 
Rishis, by his women, female slaves, eunuchs, and servants. Bharata with his family, 
and S'atrughna, follow, together with Brahmans bearing the sacred fire, and the whole 
of the people of the country, and even with animals, &c. &c. Rama, with all these 
attendants, comes to the banks of the Sarayti (cxxiii). Brahma, with all the gods, 
in innumerable celestial cars, now appears, and all the sky is refulgent with the divine 
splendour. Pure and fragrant breezes blow, a shower of flowers falls. Rama enters 
the waters of the Sarayti ; and Brahma utters a voice from the sky, saying, 'Approach, 
Vishnu; Raghava, thou hast happily arrived, with thy god-like brothers. Enter 
thine own body as Vishnu, or the eternal aether. For thou art the abode of the 
worlds (loka-gatih) : no one comprehends thee, the inconceivable and imperishable, 
except the large-eyed Maya, thy primeval spouse.' Hearing these words, Rama enters 
the glory of Vishnu {Vaishnavam tejas) with his body and his followers. He then 
asks Brahma to find an abode for the people who had accompanied him from devotion 
to his person; and Brahma appoints them a celestial residence accordingly." 



SUMMARY OF THE LEADING STORY 



OP 



THE MAHA-BHAEATA. 



This poem (which was recited by Vaisampayana, the pupil of Vyasa, to Janame- 
jaya, the great-grandson of Arjuna) is divided into eighteen books. To which has 
been added a supplement called Harivansa (see p. 40). It is in celebration of the 
lunar race of kings, as the Ramayana is of the solar ; and some knowledge of their 
genealogy is essential to the comprehension of the story. Soma, the moon, the pro- 
genitor of the lunar race, who reigned at Hastinapur, was the child of the Rishi, Atri, 
and father of Budha, who married Ila or Ida, daughter of the solar prince Ikshwaku, 
and had by her a son, Aila or Pururavas. The latter had a son by Urvas'i named 
Ayus, from whom came Nahusha, the father of Yayati. The latter had two sons, 
Puru and Yadu, from whom proceeded the two branches of the lunar line. In the 
line of Yadu we need only mention the last three princes, Sura, Vasudeva *, and 
Krishna with his brother Balarama. Fifteenth in the other line — that of Puru — came 
Dushyanta, father of the great Bharata, from whom India to this day is called Bha- 
rata-varsha. Ninth from Bharata came Kuru, and fourteenth from him Santanu. 
This Santanu had by his wife Satyavati, a son named Vichitra-virya. Bhishma (also 
called Santanava, Deva-vrata, &c), who renounced the right of succession and took 



* Prith;i or Kunti, wife of Pandu, and mother of three of the Pandu princes, was 1 - 
of Vasudeva, and therefore aunt of Krishna. 

N 2 



92 SUMMARY OF THE LEADING STORY OF THE MAHA'-BHA'rATA. 

the vow of a Brahmachari *, was the son of Santanu by a former wife, the goddess 
Ganga, whence one of his names is Gangeya. Satyavati also had, before her mar- 
riage with Santanu, borne Vyasa to the sage Paras' ara; so that Vichitra-virya, Bhishma, 
and Vyasa were half-brothers f ; and Vyasa, although he retired into the wilderness, 
to live a life of contemplation, promised his mother that he would place himself at 
her disposal whenever she required his services. Satyavati had recourse to him when 
her son Vichitra-virya died childless, and requested him to pay his addresses to 
Vichitra-virya's two widows, named Ambika and Ambalika. He consented, and had 
by them respectively two children, Dhritarashtra, who was born blind, and Pandu, 
who was born with a pale complexion J. When Satyavati begged Vyasa to become 
the father of a third son (who should be without any defect), the elder wife, terrified 
by Vyasa' s austere appearance, sent him one of her slave-girls, dressed in her own 
clothes ; and this girl was the mother of Vidura (whence he is sometimes called 
Kshattri ||). Dhritarashtra, Pandu, and Vidura were thus brothers, sons of Vyasa, 
the supposed author or compiler of the Maha-bharata. Vyasa after this retired again 
to the woods ; but, gifted with divine prescience, appeared both to his sons and 
grandsons whenever they were in difficulties, and needed his advice and assistance. 
To make the genealogy more clear, it may be well to repeat it in a tabular form : — 

* I. e. perpetual celibacy. Adya-prabhriti me brahmacharyam bhavishyati ; Aputrasyapi 
me loka^ bhavishyanty akshaya^ divi. (MaM-bhar. I. 4060.) 

*f* Para'sara met with Satyavati when quite a girl, as he was crossing the river Jumna 1 in a 
boat. The result of their intercourse was a child, VyjCsa, who was called Krishna, from his 
swarthy complexion, and Dwaipayana, because he was brought forth by Satyavati on an 
island (dwipa) in the Jumni (See MaM-bhar. I. 2416, 2417, and 4235.) 

X The mother of Pandu was also called Kau£aly£ ; and this name (which was that of the 
mother of Rama-chandra) seems also to be applied to the mother of Dhritarashtra. Paleness 
of complexion, in the eyes of a Hindu, would be regarded as a kind of leprosy, and was 
therefore almost as great a defect as blindness. The reason given for these defects is very 
curious. Ambika was so terrified by the swarthy complexion and shaggy aspect of the sage 
Vy^sa (not to speak of the gandha emitted by his body), that when he visited her she closed 
her eyes, and did not venture to open them while he was with her. In consequence of this 
assumed blindness her child was born blind. Ambalika, on the other hand, though she kept 
her eyes open, became so colourless with fright, that her son was born with a pale com- 
plexion. (See Mah^-bhar. I. 4275 — 4290.) Pandu seems to have been in other respects good 
looking — S£ devi kumaram ajijanat pandu-lakshana-sampannam dipyamaham vara-sriy£. 

|| Vy^sa was so much pleased with this slave-girl that he pronounced her free, and declared 
that her child, Vidura, should be sarva-buddhimatain varah. Kshattri, although in Manu 
the child of a S'ndra father and BraVhman mother, signifies here the child of a Brahman 
father and S'udra mother. 



GENEALOGICAL TABLE. 



93 



Atri (the muni, generally reckoned among the seven Rishis or sages). 

Soma (or chandra), the moon. 

Budha (or Mercury), married Ha" or IiU, daughter of Ikshwalcu. 

Puniravas or Aila (married the nymph U'rva^i). 

Ayus. 

Nahusha. 

Yay^ti (husband of S'armishtha" and Devay^nf). 
I ! — , 



Line of Puru. Line of Yadu. 

I I 

Puru (king in Pratishthiina) Yadu 



Dushyanta (h. of S'akuntaU) Vrishni 
Bharata ! 



Hastin (built Hastina^pur) 

Kuru 

S'^ntanu 



Devar^ta 

Andhaka 

S'tira 

Vasudeva, brother of Kuntf or Prith;C, also called Anaka-dundubhi. 

Krishna and Balarama, with whom, by the quarrels of the Y;idavas, 
the line becomes extinct. They were cotemporary with the sons of 
Pandu and Dhritar^shtra. 



Chitningada^ 



Dhritarashtra- 



Line of Puru and Kuru continued. 
S'antanu-r-Satyavatf 



1 

Vichitra-vfrya, 
son of both, 
died childless. 



-j-Sa 



Vy^sa, 
son of Satyavatf , 
married the two widows 
of Vichitra-virya. 



1 

Bhishma, 
called S'antanava 

and Giingeya, 

as son of S'jintanu 

by Gang.-l. 



Kripa t 



-Gdndharf Kuntl or Prithd-r-Pandu-i-Madri 



i__r 



Vidura, called Kshattri. 



Duryodhana 

and 99 
other sons. 



Karna Yudhish- Bhfma Arjuna Nakula Sahadeva 
thira 



* Chitrangada reigned a very short time after the death of S'jlntanu. He was so arrogant 
and proud of his strength that he defied gods and men; upon which the king of the Gandhar- 
bas, his namesake, came down to fight with him and killed him. 

f Kripa and his sister Krip;i, wife of Drona, were adopted children <>f S'.intanu tso«> BCahA- 
bhar. T. 50S7 ; and sec note \. p. 97). 



V 



94 SUMMARY OP THE LEADING STORY OF THE MAHA'-BHA'rATA. 

FIRST BOOK or A DI-PARV A. —Dhritarashtra and Pandu were brought up by 
their uncle Bhishma*, who in the meanwhile conducted the government of Has- 
tinapurf (4349)- Dhritarashtra was the first-born, but at first renounced the throne, 
in consequence of his blindness (4361). Vidura being the son of a Sudra woman, 
could not succeed, and Pandu therefore became king (4361). In the meantime 
Dhritarashtra married Gandhari (also called Saubaleyi or Saubali, daughter of Subala, 
king of Gandhara) ; who when she heard that her future husband was blind, to show 
her respect for him, bound her own eyes with a handkerchief, and always remained 
blindfolded in his presence X- Soon afterwards, at a swayamvara held by king Kunti- 
bhoja, his adopted daughter, Pritha or Kunti, chose Pandu for her husband (4418). 
She was the child of a Yadava prince, Sura, who gave her to his childless cousin 
Kuntibhoja; under whose care she was brought up. One day, before her marriage, 
she paid such respect and attention to a powerful sage named Durvasas, a guest in 
her father's house, that he gave her a charm and taught her an incantation, by virtue 
of which she was to have a child by any god she liked to invoke. Out of curiosity, 
she invoked the Sun, by whom she had a child, who was born clothed in armour || . 
Pritha (or Kunti), afraid of the censure of her relatives, deserted the child, and 
exposed it in the river. It was found by Adhiratha, a charioteer (suta), and nurtured 
by his wife Radha; whence the child was afterwards called Radheya, though named 
by his foster-parents Vasushena. When he was grown up, Indra tricked him out of 
his armour (which he wanted for his son Arjuna) by appealing to his generosity in 
the guise of a Brahman. Indra in return conferred upon him enormous strength 
(sakti), and changed his name to Karna§ (4383 — 441 1). 

After Pandu' s marriage to Pritha, his uncle Bhishma, wishing him to take a 
second wife, made an expedition to Salya, king of Madra, and prevailed upon him to 
bestow his sister Madri upon Pandu, in exchange for vast sums of money and jewels 

* Dhritarashtrascha Panduscha Vidurascha mahamatih Janma-prabhriti Bhishmena pu- 
travat paripalitali (4353). They were all three thoroughly educated by Bhishma. Dhrita- 
rashtra is described as excelling all others in strength (4356), Pandu as excelling in the use 
of the bow, and Yidura as pre-eminent for virtue (4358). 

f Hastinapur is also called Gajasaliwaya and Nagas^hwaya. 

% Sa" patam £daya kritwa' bahugunam tad£ Babandha netre swe raj an pativrata-parayana" 
(4376). She is described as so devoted to her husband that Vacua 1 'pi purushan anyan su- 
vrata" nanwakfrtayat. 

|| The Sun afterwards restored to her her maidenhood (kanydtwa). See 4400. 

§ He is also called Vaikartana, as son of Vikartana or the Sun, and sometimes Vrisha. 
Karna is described (4405) as worshipping the Sun till he scorched his own back (aprishtha- 
tap£t). Compare Hitop. book II. v. 32. 



FIRST BOOK OR ADI-PARVA. 95 

(4438). Soon after this second marriage Pandu undertook a great campaign, in which 
he conquered the Das'arnas, Magadha, Kasi, Mithila. or Videha, and subjugated so 
many countries, that the kingdom of Hastinapur became under him as glorious and 
extensive as formerly under Bharata (4461). Having acquired enormous wealth, 
which he distributed to Bhishma, Yidura, and Dhritarashtra, Pandu retired to the 
woods, to indulge his passion for hunting, and lived with his two wives as a forester 
on the southern slope of the Himalayas. The blind Dhritarashtra, who had a very 
useful charioteer named Sanjaya, was then obliged, with the assistance of Bhishma as 
his regent, to take the reins of government. After this, Bhishma promoted the mar- 
riage of Vidura with a beautiful slave-girl belonging to king Devaka *. 

We have next an account of the birth of Dhritarashtra' s sons. One day the sage 
Vyasa was hospitably entertained by the queen Gandhari, and in return granted her 
a boon. She chose to be the mother of a hundred sons, and soon afterwards became 
pregnant (4490). After two years' gestation she produced a mass of flesh, which was 
divided by Vyasa into a hundred and one pieces (as big as the joint of a thumb), and 
placed in jars (kundeshu). In due time the eldest son, Duryodhana (sometimes 
called Suyodhana; see p. 20 of this volume), was born, but not till after the birth of 
Pritha's son Yudhishthira. At Duryodhana's birth various evil omens of the usual 
hackneyed description occurred ; jackals yelled, donkeys brayed, whirlwinds blew, 
and the sky seemed on fire (4509). Dhritarashtra, alarmed, called his ministers toge- 
ther, who recommended him to abandon the child, but could not persuade him to 
do so. In another month the remaining ninety-nine sons were bornf from the 
remaining jars, and one daughter, called Duhs'ala (afterwards married to Jayadratha). 
Dhritarashtra had also one other son, named Yuyutsu, born in the usual way from a 
woman of the Vais'ya caste (4522), making altogether a hundred and two children. 

We have next the account of the birth of the five reputed sons of Pandu. One 
day, on a hunting expedition, Pandu transfixed with five arrows a male and female 
deer, engaged in amorous sport together. These turned out to be a certain sage and 
his wife, who had taken the form of these animals. The sage cursed Pandu, and 
predicted that he would die in the conjugal embraces of one of his wives (4588). In 
consequence of this curse, Pandu took the vow of a Brahmachari %, abandoned sen- 
sual pleasures, gave all his property to the Brahmans, and became a hermit. He 

* Yidura is one of the best characters in the Malnl-bharata, always ready with good advkv 
(hitopadesa), both for the Pandavas and for his brother Dhritarashtra. His dupodtkui leads 
him always to take the part of the Pandu princes, and warn them of the evil designs oi' their 
cousins. 

t Their names are all detailed at 4540. 

X The brahmacharya-vrata, or vow of continence. 



96 SUMMARY OF THE LEADING STORY OF THE MAHA'-BHA'rATA. 

kept apart from Pritha (also called Kunti), and from his other wife, Madri ; but, with 
his approval, the former made use of the charm and incantation formerly given to her 
by Durvasas (see p. 94, 1. 13), and had three sons, Yudhishthira, Bhima, and Arjuna, 
by the three deities, Dharma, Vayu, and Indra respectively (see p. 99, last note). 
Yudhishthira was born first, and before Dhritarashtra' s eldest son Duryodhana. At 
his birth a heavenly voice was heard, which said, ' This is the best of virtuous men.' 
Bhima, the son of Pritha and Vayu, was born on the same day as Duryodhana (4776). 
Soon after his birth, his mother accidentally let him fall, when a great prodigy oc- 
curred — indicative of the vast strength which was to distinguish him — for the body 
of the child falling on a rock shivered it to atoms. On the birth of Arjuna auspi- 
cious omens were manifested ; showers of flowers fell *, celestial minstrels filled the 
air with harmony, and a heavenly voice sounded his praises and future glory (4792). 

Madri, the other wife of Pandu, was now anxious to have children, and was told 
by Pritha (Kunti) to think on any god she pleased (4849). She chose the two 
As'wins f, who appeared to her, and were the fathers of her twin sons Nakula and 
Sahadeva J. While these five princes were still children, Pandu, forgetting the curse 
of the sage whom he had killed in the form of a deer, ventured one day to embrace 
Madri, and died in her arms (4877). She and Kunti then had a dispute for the 
honour of becoming a sati (suttee), which ended in Madri burning herself with her 
husband's corpse (4896) ; and Pritha (also called Kunti), with the five Pandu princes, 
were taken by the Rishis, or holy men — companions of Pandu — to Hastinapur, where 
they were presented to Dhritarashtra, and all the circumstances of their birth and of 
the death of Pandu narrated (4918). The news of the death of his brother was 
;\received by Dhritarashtra with much apparent sorrow ; he gave orders for the due 
1 performance of the funeral rites, and allowed the five young princes and their mother 

* Showers of flowers are as common in Indian poetry as showers of blood ; the one indi- 
cating good, the other portending evil. 

+ The AsWinau are the twin sons of Siirya, the sun, by his wife Sanjna, transformed to a 
mare. They are endowed with perpetual youth and beauty, and are the physicians of the gods. 
See the last note, p. 47; and compare the explanations in Nirukta, XII. 1. p. 170, Roth's edit. 

% The five Pandu princes are known by various other names in the Mah^-bharata, some of 
which it may be useful here to note. Yudhishthira is also called, Dharmaraja, Dharmaputra, 
and sometimes simply Rajan. His charioteer was called Indrasena. Bhima's other names 
are, Bhimasena, Vrikodara, Bahus'alin. Arjuna is also called, Kiritin, Phalguna, Jishnu, 
Dhananjaya, Bfbhatsu, Savyasachin, Pakasasani, GucMkesa, S'weta-vahana, Nara, and some- 
times par excellence Partha, though Bhima and Yudhishthira, as sons of Pritha, had also this 
title. Nakula and Sahadeva are called M^dreyau (as sons of Mddrf), and sometimes Yamau 
(the twins). The name Kaurava is sometimes applied to the Pandu princes as well as to 
the sons of Dhritarashtra. 



FIRST BOOK OR ADI-PARVA. 97 

to live with his own family. The cousins were in the habit of playing together; bu< 
in their boyish sports the Pandu princes excelled the sons of Dhritarashtra (4978), 
which excited much ill feeling; and the spiteful Duryodhana, even when a boy, tried 
to destroy Bhima by mixing poison in his food (5008), and then throwing him into 
the water when stupified by its effects. Bhima, however, was not drowned, but 
descended to the abode of the nagas (or serpents), who freed him from the influence 
of the poison (5052), and gave him a liquid to drink which endued him with the 
strength often thousand nagas *. After this, Duryodhana, Karna, and S'akuni t de- 
vised various schemes for destroying the Pandu princes, but without success (5068). 

We have next the account of the coming of Drona to Hastinapur. He was a 
Brahman, the son of Bharadwaja J, and being well skilled in the use of the bow and 
other warlike weapons, was chosen by Bhishma (who acted as Dhritarashtra's regent) 
to train all the young princes, both Kauravas and Pandavas, in warlike exercises. 
An account of the tournament at which, their education being completed, they exhi- 
bited their skill, is given at p. 21. The fee which Drona required for their instruc- 
tion was, that they should capture Drupada king of Panchala, who had insulted him 
(5446). They therefore invaded Drupada's territory and took him prisoner (5502) ; 
but Drona spared his life, and gave him back half his kingdom. (This Drupada was 
afterwards to become the father-in-law of the five Pandavas ||.) After this, Yudhish- 
thira was installed by Dhritarashtra as Yuvaraja or heir-apparent (5518), and by his 
exploits soon eclipsed the glory of his father Pandu's reign (5519). Meanwhile 
Bhima learnt the use of the club and the sword from his cousin Balarama (5520) ; 

*Tasman nagayutabalo rane 'dhrishyo bhavishyasi (5054). 

f S'akuni was the brother of Gandharf, and therefore maternal uncle (nuCtula) of the Kau- 
rava princes. He was the counsellor of Duryodhana. He is often called Saubala, as Gan- 
ldrl is called Saubali. 

X Drona married Kripa", sister of Kripa, and had by her a son, AsVatthaman. Kripa and 
Kripa" were the children of a great sage, S'aradvat (called Gautama as son of Gotama). He 
performed very severe penance, and thereby frightened Indra, who sent a nymph to tempt 
him (5076), but without success. However, twins were born to the sage in a clump of grass 
(sarastambe), who were found by king S'antanu, and out of pity (kripa) taken home and 
reared as his own. He called them Kripa and Kripa\ The former became one of the privj 
council at Hastinapur, and is sometimes called Gautama, sometimes S'iradvata. 

|| Burning with resentment, Drupada endeavoured to procure the birth of a son, to avenge 
his defeat and bring about the destruction of Drona. Two Bnihmans undertook a Bacrifioe 
for him, and two children were born from the midst of the altar, out of the sarrinYial fire, 
a son, Dhrishta-dyumna, and a daughter, Krishna or Draupadl, afterwards tiie witV of the 
Pandavas. 

O 



98 SUMMARY OF THE LEADING STORY OF THE MAHA'-BH^RATA. 

but Arjuna, by the help of Drona, who gave him magical weapons (5525), excelled 
all in skill and the use of arms. The great renown gained by the Pandu princes 
excited the jealousy and ill-will of Dhritarashtra (5542), but won the affections of the 
citizens (5657). The latter met together, and after consultation declared that as 
Dhritarashtra was blind he ought not to conduct the government, and that as Bhishma 
had formerly declined the throne he ought not to be allowed to act as regent (5660). 
They therefore proposed to crown Yudhishthira at once *. When Duryodhana heard 
of this, he consulted with Kama, S'akuni, and Duhs'asana, how he might remove 
Yudhishthira out of the way, and secure the throne for himself. At his urgent soli- 
citation, Dhritarashtra was induced to send the Pandava princes on an excursion to 
the city of Varanavata, pretending that he wished them to see the beauties of that 
town, and to be present at a festival there (5705). Meanwhile Duryodhana insti- 
gated his friend Purochana to precede them, and to prepare a house for their recep- 
tion, which he was to fill secretly with hemp, resin, and other combustible substances, 
plastering the walls with mortar composed of oil, fat, and lac (Idkshd or jatu). When 
the princes were asleep in this house, and unsuspicious of danger, he was to set it on 
foe (573°)* Th e five Pandavas and their mother left Hastinapur amid the tears and 
regrets of the citizens, and in eight days arrived at Varanavata, where, after great 
demonstrations of respect from the inhabitants, they were conducted by Purochana 
to the house of lac. Having been warned by Vidura, they soon discovered the dan- 
gerous character of the structure (5781), and with the assistance of a miner (khanaka) 
sent by Vidura, dug an underground passage, by which to escape from the interior 
(58 r 3)' Then having invited a degraded outcaste woman (nishddi) with her five sons 
to a feast, and having stupified them with wine, they first set fire to the house of 
Purochana t, and then to their own. Purochana was burnt, and the woman with her 
five sons, but they themselves escaped by the secret passage (surungd). The charred 
bodies of the woman and her sons being afterwards found, it was supposed that the 
Pandava princes had perished in the conflagration (5864), and their funeral cere- 
monies were performed by Dhritarashtra. Meanwhile they hurried off to the woods ; 
Bhima, the strong one, carrying his mother and the twins, and leading his other bro- 
thers by the hands (5839) when through fatigue they could not move on. Whilst 
his mother and brothers were asleep under a fig-tree, Bhima had an encounter with 
a hideous giant named Hidimba, whom he slew (6038). Afterwards he married 
Hidimba, the sister of this monster, and had a son by her named Ghatotkacha 
(6072). 

* Te vayam Pandava-jyeshtham abhishinchama. 

t It is worthy of remark, that Bhima is the one to set fire to the houses. 



FIRST BOOK OR ADI-PARVA. 99 

By the advice of their grandfather Vyasa, the Pandava princes next took up their 
abode in the house of a Brahman at a city called Ekachakra. There they lived for a 
long time in the guise of mendicant Brahmans, safe from the persecution of Duryo- 
dhana. Every day they went out to beg for food given as alms (bhaiksha), which 
their mother Kunti divided at night, giving half of the whole to Bhima as his share * 
(6108). While resident in the house of the Brahman, Bhima delivered his family and 
the city of Ekachakra from the Rakshasa named Baka (or Vaka),who every day devoured 
one of the citizens, and terrified the whole neighbourhood (see p. 33 of this volume). 

After this Vyasa appeared to his grandsons, and informed them that Draupadi, the 
daughter of Drupada, king of Panchala, was destined to be their common wife f- 
In a long discourse he explained that in real fact she had been in a former life the 
daughter of a sage, and had performed a most severe penance, in order that a hus- 
band might fall to her lot. S'iva, pleased with her penance, had appeared to her, and 
had promised her, instead of one, five husbands. When the maiden replied that she 
wanted only one husband, the god answered, " Five times you said to me, Grant me 
a husband ; therefore in another body you will obtain five husbands" (6433 an ^ 73 22 )- 
This Rishi's daughter was thereupon born in the family of Drupada as a maiden of 
the most distinguished beauty, and was destined to be the wife of the Pandavas X- 

* From his enormous appetite Bhima was called 'wolf-stomached' (Vrikodara). His por- 
tion was always one half of the whole dish intended for the family meal, because he was 
Ndgarshaba-tulya-rapa, ' equal in size to the chief of the Nagas' (see 716 1). 

+ Polyandria is still practised among some hill-tribes in the Himalaya range near Simla, 
and in other barren mountainous regions, such as Bhotan, where a large population could 
not be supported. It prevails also among the Nair (Nayar) tribe in Malabar. Our fore- 
fathers, or at least the ancient Britons, according to Csesar, were given to the same practice : 
4 Uxores habent deni duodenique inter se communes,' &c. De Bello Gallico, V. 14. 

% Vyftsa, who is the type and representative of strict Brahruanism, was obliged to explain 
at length the necessity for the marriage of Draupadi to five husbands (which is called a 
siikshma-dharma, 7246). He also gifted Drupada with divine intuition (chakshur divyam) to 
perceive the divinity of the Pandavas and penetrate the mystic meaning of what otherwise he 
would have regarded as a serious violation of the laws and institutions of the Bralimans (73 I 3). 
Hence Drupada became aware of his daughter's former birth, as described above, and that 
Arjuna was really a part or avataV of Indra (S'akrasyansa), and that all his brothers were 
also portions of the same god. Draupadi herself, although nominally the daughter of Dru- 
pada, was really born, like her brother Dhrishta-dyumna, out of the midst of the sacrificial 
fire (vedf-madhyat, 6931), and was a form of Lakshml. In no other way could her super- 
natural birth, and the divine perfume which exhaled from her person, and was perceived a 
league off (krosa-matnit prawtti, 6934. 731 1>, be accounted for. Vyasa at the Bame tinv 1 
plained the mysterious birth of Krishna and Baladeva : --how the god Vishnu pulled out t\v«> 

O 2 



100 SUMMARY OF THE LEADING STORY OF THE MAHA-BHARATA. 

In obedience to the directions of their grandfather, the five Pandavas quitted Eka- 
chakra, and betook themselves to the court of king Drupada, where Draupadi was 
about to hold her swayamvara. (See the description of this at p. 22.) Arjuna 
being chosen by Draupadi, they returned with her to their mother, who being inside 
the house, and fancying that they had brought alms, called out to them, ' Share it 
between you' (Bhunkteti sametya sane, 7132). The words of a parent, thus spoken, 
could not be set aside without evil consequences ; and Drupada, at the persuasion of 
Vyasa, who acquainted him with the divine destination of his daughter *, consented 
to her becoming the common wife of the five Pandu princes. She was first married 
by the family-priest Dhaumya to Yudhishthira (7340), and then, according to priority 
of birth, to the other four f. 

The Pandavas, being now strengthened by their alliance with the powerful king of 
Panchala, threw off their disguises ; and king Dhritarashtra thought it more politic 
to settle all differences by dividing his kingdom between them and his own sons. 
He gave up Hastinapur to the latter, presided over by Duryodhana, and permitted 

of his own hairs, one white and the other black, which entered into two women of the family 
of the Y^davas (Devakl and Rohini), and became, the white one Baladeva and the black one 
Krishna. (See 7307 ; and compare Vishnu-purana, book V. ch. 1.) In the Markandeya-purana 
(ch. 5) it is shown how the five Pandavas could be all portions of Indra, and yet four of them 
sons of other gods. When Indra killed the son of Twashtri (or Viswakarman as Prajapati, 
the Creator), his punishment for this brahmahatyd was that all his tejas, 'manly vigour,' 
deserted him, and entered Dharma, the god of Justice. The son of Twashtri was reproduced 
as the demon Vritra, and again slain by Indra ; as a punishment for which his bala, ' strength,' 
left him, and entered Mdruta, 'the Wind.' Lastly, when Indra violated Ahaly^, the wife of 
the sage Gautama, his riipa, ' beauty,' abandoned him, and entered the N^satyau or AsVins. 
When Dharma gave back the tejas of Indra, Yudhishthira was born ; when the Wind gave up 
Indra's bala, Bhfma was born ; and when the Aswins restored the riipa of Indra, Nakula and 
Sahadeva were born. Arjuna was born as half the essence of Indra. Hence, as they were 
all portions of one deity, there could be no harm in Draupadi becoming the wife of all five. 

* See the last note. Drupada at first objected. Yudhishthira's excuse for himself and 
his brothers is remarkable; pHrveshdm dnupurvyena ydtam vartmdnuydmahe (7246). 

+ She had a son by each of the five brothers — Prativindhya by Yudhishthira ; Sutasoma 
by Bhima ; S'rutakarman by Arjuna ; S'atanika by Nakula ; S'rutasena by Sahadeva (8039). 
Arjuna had also another wife, Subhadra\, the sister of Krishna, with whom he eloped when 
on a visit to Krishna at Dwaraka\ By her he had a -son, Abhimanyu. He had also a son 
named Iravat by the serpent-nymph Ulupf. Bhima had also a son, Ghatotkacha, by the 
Rakshasi Hidimba" (see bottom of p. 98) ; and the others had children by different wives (see 
Vishnu-purana, p. 459). Arjuna's son Abhimanyu had a son Parikshit, who was the father 
of Janamejaya. Parikshit died of the bite of a snake ; and the Bhagavata-purana was nar- 
rated to him between the bite and his death. 



FIRST BOOK OR A'DI-PARVA. 101 

the five Pandavas to occupy a district near the Jumna, called Khandavaprastha, where 
they built Indraprastha (the modern Delhi), and, under Yudhishthira as their leader, 
subjugated much of the adjacent territory by predatory incursions (6573). 

While they were living happily together, after these successes, the divine seer Xa- 
rada * came to them, and admonished them to take care that Draupadi was never the 
cause of their disunion, lest the same fate should befal them which happened to two 
brothers of the Daitya race, Sunda and Upasunda. Their story is then narrated f. 

The remainder of the first book is filled with the adventures of Arjuna, who, to 
fulfil a vow, went to reside for twelve years in the forest (7775). One day, when he 
was bathing in the Ganges, he was carried off by the serpent-nymph Ulupi, daughter 
of the king of the Nagas, whom he married (7809). Afterwards he married Chitran- 
gada, daughter of the king of Manipura (7826), and had a child by her named Ba- 
bhruvahana (7883). 

In the course of his wanderings Arjuna came to Prabhasa, a place of pilgrimage 
in the west of India, where he met Krishna J, who here first formed a friendship with 
him (7888), and took him to his city Dwaraka (7899), where he received him as a 
visitor into his own house (7905). Soon afterwards, some of the relatives of Krishna 
celebrated a festival in the mountain Raivataka, to which both Arjuna and Krishna 
went. There they saw Balarama in a state of intoxication (Jcshica) || with his wife 
Revati (8912); and there they saw Subhadra, Krishna's sister. Her beauty excited 
the love of Arjuna, who, after obtaining Krishna's leave, carried her off and married 
her (7937). In the twelfth year of his absence he returned with her to Indraprastha. 
Krishna and Balarama followed him there, to celebrate Arjuna's marriage with Su- 
bhadra, who in due time bore a son, named Abhimanyu (8025). 

The Pandavas and all the people of Indraprastha then lived happily for some time 
under the rule of Yudhishthira (8050). One day Arjuna and Krishna went to bathe 
in the Jumna, and were resting themselves after sporting in the stream, when they 
were accosted by the god Agni in the form of a Brahman, who begged them to help 
him in his attempts to burn the Khandava forest, sacred to Indra. It appeared that 
Agni's vigour had been exhausted by devouring too many oblations at a great sacri- 

* Na>ada was one of the ten divine Rishis, sons of Brahmii. He was a friend of Krishna, 
and was inventor of the vlna" or lute. He often acts as a messenger of the gods. 

+ It is briefly told in the 4th book of the Hitopadesa. 

J It may be useful to enumerate some of the other names by which Krishna is known in 
the Mahit-bharata, as follows : V.lsudeva, Kesava, Govinda, Jamirdana, Dannnlara, Pasarha, 
N;trayana, Hyishikesa, Pumshottama, MaMhava, Madhusiidana, Achyuta. (See Udyoga-p, 
2560.) In the Draupadf-harana (75) Krishna and Arjuna are called Krishna*. 

|| Compare Mcghaduta, v. 51, where Balar;ima's fondness for wine is alluded to. 



102 SUMMARY OF THE LEADING STORY OF THE MAHi-BHA'RATA. 

fice, and Brahma had revealed to him that there was only one way of recovering his 
strength, namely, by consuming the whole Khandava forest with all its inhabitants 
(8149). This he had attempted to do, but was always frustrated by Indra, who by 
deluging the forest extinguished the fire. Agni therefore craved the assistance of 
Arjuna and Krishna. Arjuna agreed to help him, provided Agni furnished him with 
a chariot, a bow, and divine arms. Upon this Agni applied to the god Varuna, who 
gave him the bow called Gandiva, two quivers called Akshayyau*, and a chariot 
having an ape for its standard (kapi-lakshana). These had been given to Varuna by 
Soma, and now being handed over by Varuna to Agni, were by him given to Arjuna 
(8183). Agni at the same time gave to Krishna as a weapon the celebrated discus 
(chakra) called Vajranabha, Sudars'ana, &c. (8196), and a club called Kaumodaki 
(8200). With the assistance of these weapons, Arjuna and Krishna fought with Indra 
(8207), who, unable to overcome them, could no longer prevent Agni from completing 
the burning of the forest, and thereby recovering his energy. 

SECOND BOOK or SABHA-PARVA.— This commences by describing how 
Arjuna and his brothers conquered various kings and subdued various countries (983) 
in the neighbourhood of Indraprastha. Yudhishthira, elated with these successes, 
undertook, with the assistance of Krishna (1223), to celebrate the Rajasuya, a great 
sacrifice, at which his own inauguration as paramount sovereign was to be performed. 
He could not, however, perform the Rajasuya till after the destruction of a tyrannical 
and powerful king named Jarasandha (626), who was the determined foe of Krishna, 
but was challenged and slain by Bhima. See Muir's Texts, vol. IV. p. 245. 

Afterwards a great assembly (sabhd) was held; various princes attended, and 
brought either rich presents or tribute (1264). Among those who came were 
Bhishma, Dhritarashtra and his hundred sons, Subala (king of Gandhara), S'akuni, 
Drupada, S'alya, Drona, Kripa, Jayadratha, Kuntibhoja, S'is'upala, and others from the 
extreme south and north (Dravida, Ceylon, and Kasmir, 1271) f. On the day of the 
inauguration (abhisheka) Bhishma, at the suggestion of the sage Narada, proposed 
that a respectful oblation (argha) should be prepared and offered in token of worship 
to the best and strongest person present ; whom he declared to be Krishna. To this 
the Pandavas readily agreed ; and Sahadeva was commissioned to present the offering. 
S'is'upala, however, (also called Sunitha,) opposed the worship of Krishna (1336. 
1414); and, after denouncing him as a contemptible and ill-instructed person (1340), 

* Sometimes called akshayye, as isliudhi is either masc. or fern. 

t The details in this part of the poem are interesting and curious as throwing light on the 
geographical divisions and political condition of India at an early epoch. 



SECOND BOOK OR SABHi^-PARVA. — THIRD BOOK OR VANA-PARVA. 103 

challenged him to fight ; but Krishna instantly struck off his head with his discus *. 
The events of the Rajasuya having cemented the alliance between Krishna and the 
Pandavas (1625), the former, at the completion of the ceremony, returned to Dwaraka. 
After this, in a conversation between Duryodhana and Sakuni, in which the former 
expressed his determination to get rid of the Pandavas, Sakuni, who was skilful at 
dice (akshakusala), persuaded Duryodhana to contrive that Yudhishthira, who was 
very fond of gambling {dyutapriya), should play with him (Sakuni) (1721). Dhrita- 
rashtra was then persuaded to hold another assembly (sabhd) at Hastinapur; and 
Vidura was sent to the Pandavas, to invite them to be present (1993). They con- 
sented to attend ; and Yudhishthira was easily prevailed on by Duryodhana to play 
with Sakuni. By degrees Yudhishthira staked every thing, his territory, his pos- 
sessions, and last of all Draupadi. All were successively lost ; and Draupadi, who 
was then regarded as a slave, was treated with great indignity by Duhsasana. He 
dragged her by the hair of the head into the assembly (2229. 2235) ; upon which 
Bhima, who witnessed this insult, swore that he would one day dash Duhsasana to 
pieces and drink his blood f (2302). In the end a compromise was agreed upon. 
The kingdom was given up to Duryodhana for twelve years ; and the five Pandavas, 
with Draupadi, were required to live for that period in the woods, and to pass the 
thirteenth concealed under assumed names in various disguises. This concludes the 
Sabha-parva. 

THIRD BOOK or VAN A-PARVA.— This, which is one of the longest of the 
eighteen, describes the life of the Pandavas in the woods. They retired to the Kam- 
yaka forest, and took up their abode on the banks of the Saraswati (242), resolved 
to conquer back their kingdom at the end of the thirteenth year, if Duryodhana was 
not willing to give it up. 

While they were resident there, Arjuna, at the advice of his grandfather Vyasa, 
and at the desire of Yudhishthira (1459), went to the Himalaya mountains (1495), 
that he might perform there severe penance, and thereby obtain celestial arms from 
Indra, to secure his victory over the Kuru princes. On arriving at Indrakila (the 

* Duryodhana also, in a subsequent part of the MalnS-bharata, shows his scepticism in 
regard to the divine nature of Krishna (Udyoga-p. 436S). The story of S'isupala and his 
destruction by Krishna forms the subject of the celebrated poem of Magha. All the parti- 
culars of the narrative as told in this book of the Mahit-bharata are given by Dr. Muir in lii> 
Sanskrit Texts, vol. IV. p. 171 — 180. The Vishnu-puntna identifies S'i^upiila with the demons 
Hiranya-kasipu and Ravana (Wilson's transl. p. 437). 

t This threat he fulfilled. The incident is noticeable as it is the subject of the drama 
called Venf-sanhara. 



104 SUMMARY OF THE LEADING STORY OF THE MAH^-BH^RATA. 

mountain Mandara), a voice in the sky called out to him to stop (1498), and Indra 
appeared to him, promising to give him the desired arms if by his austerities he was 
able to obtain a sight of the god S'iva (1513). Upon this Arjuna commenced a course 
of severe penance (1538); and after some time S'iva, to reward him and prove his 
bravery, approached him as a Kirata or wild mountaineer living by the chase, at the 
moment that a demon named Muka, in the form of a boar, was making an attack 
upon him. S'iva and Arjuna both shot together at the boar, which fell dead, and 
both claimed to have hit him first. This served as a pretext for S'iva, as the Kirata, 
to quarrel with Arjuna, and have a battle with him. Arjuna fought long with the 
Kirata *, but could not conquer him. At last he recognised the god, and threw him- 
self at his feet. S'iva, pleased with his bravery, granted him a boon ; and Arjuna 
asked for the celebrated weapon Pas'upata, to enable him to conquer Karna and the 
Kuru princes in war. S'iva granted his request, and disappeared f (1650. 1664). Then 
the guardians of the four regions (lokapdldh), Indra, Yama, Varuna, and Kuvera, 
presented themselves (1670), and each enriched Arjuna with his peculiar weapons. 
Indra afterwards sent his chariot, with his charioteer Matali, to convey Arjuna from 
the mountain Mandara to his heavenly palace (17 15). Arjuna mounted the car (as 
his ancestor Dushyanta had done before him), and, amid instructive conversations 
with Matali, arrived at the abode of his divine father, who embraced him, placed him 
near himself on his throne, and permitted him to be present at a heavenly festival. 

Many other beautiful episodes are introduced into the Vana-parva; and long 
stories are narrated, such as that of Nala, to amuse and console the Pandu princes in 
their banishment. An attempt to carry off Draupadi by Jayadratha, while the five 
brothers are absent on a shooting excursion, resembles in some respects the story of 
Sita's forcible abduction by Ravana in the Ramayana (15572). The whole story of 
the Ramayana is also told in this book (15945). 

FOURTH BOOK or VIRATA-PARVA.— This describes the thirteenth year of 
exile, and recounts the adventures of the Pandavas, who are obliged to live for this 
year incognito. They journeyed to the court of king Virata, and entered his service 
in different disguises — Yudhishthira as master of the ceremonies and superintendent 
of the games (Sabhastara) j Bhima as cook (Paurogava) ; Nakula as groom or farrier 
(Aswabandha) ; Sahadeva as herdsman (Go-sankhyatri) ; Arjuna as eunuch or com- 
panion and teacher of the women (Shandaka) ; and Draupadi as servant-maid and 

* This scene forms the subject of a celebrated poem by Bharavi called the Kirdtarjunfya. 

•f Since writing the above I have received from Dr. Muir the greater portion of the 4th 
volume of his Sanskrit Texts, now passing through the press. Part of the episode has been 
translated by him at p. 194. 



FOURTH BOOK OR VIRATA-PAR V A. 105 

needle-woman (Sairindhri, 77). Before offering themselves to Virata, they deposited 
their bows and weapons in a Sami-tree growing in a cemetery, and hung a dead body 
in the branches to prevent any one from approaching it (170. 2147). Yudhishthira 
called himself a Brahman and took the name of Kanka (23) ; Arjuna named himself 
Vrihannala (54), and as a eunuch (tritiydm prakritim gatah) adopted a sort of woman's 
dress, putting bracelets on his arms and ear-rings in his ears (53), in order, as he said, 
to hide the scars caused by his bow-string (52). He undertook in this capacity to 
teach dancing, music, and singing to the daughter of Virata and the other women of 
the palace (305), and soon gained their good graces (310). 

Virata's capital was called Matsya (or sometimes Upaplavya). There, four months 
after the arrival of the Pandavas, a great festival was held, at which a number of 
wrestlers (malla) exhibited their prowess. Bhima then astonished Virata by dashing 
to the ground and killing the strongest of the wrestlers named Jimuta (362). Ten 
months of the year thus passed away (373), when one day Draupadi, who acted as 
servant-maid to the queen Sudeshna, was seen by Virata's general named Kichaka. 
He fell in love with her (376), and tried every artifice to seduce her without effect, till 
at last, pretending to favour his advances, she agreed to meet him at a certain dancing- 
room {nartandgdra, 735), having first consulted with Bhima, who dressed himself in 
her clothes, kept the assignation for her, and had a tremendous fight (bdhu-yuddha) 
with Kichaka, pounding him with his fists into an undistinguishable mass of flesh. 
Bhima then returned privately to his kitchen (786), and Draupadi to explain the 
death of Kichaka, declared that he had been killed by her husbands, the Gandharvas 
(787). Upon this the relatives of Kichaka made a great uproar, and attempted to 
burn Draupadi with the body; but Bhima came to her rescue, tore up a tree* for 
a weapon, and slew more than a hundred men. 

The scene now shifts and takes us back to Duryodhana and the Kurus. The spies 
who had been sent to ascertain, if possible, the retreat of the Pandavas, and so prevent 
the fulfilment of the compact which required them to preserve their incognito, returned 
without discovering them. Having heard, however, the story of the death of Kichaka, 
the spies repeated it at an assembly. Upon this, Susarman king of Trigarta, whose 
country had been often ravaged by Kichaka, proposed to make a raid into Virata's 
territory for the sake of plunder, and to carry off his cattle (980). This he did (999), 
and Virata, accompanied by all the Pandavas except Arjuna (their thirteenth year of 
exile being just about to expire, 1001), invaded Trigarta to recover his property (1036). 
A great battle was fought, and Virata was taken prisoner by Susarman (1076). Bhima 
as usual tore up a tree and prepared to rescue him; but Yudhishthira advised him not 

* This was Bhima's favourite way of exhibiting his enormous strength, 

P 



106 SUMMARY OF THE LEADING STORY OF THE MAHA'-BHa'rATA. 

to display his strength too conspicuously, lest he should be recognized (1084). He 
then took a bow, pursued Susarman, defeated him, released Virata, and recovered the 
cattle (11 17). Virata then expressed his gratitude to the Pandavas (whose real names 
he was still ignorant of) and promised them rewards (1132). 

In the mean time, while Virata and the four Pandavas were still absent at 
Trigarta, Duryodhana and his brothers made an expedition against Virata's capital, 
Matsya, and carried off more cattle. Uttara (called also Bhuminjaya) the son of 
Virata, (in the absence of his father,) determined to follow and attack the Kuru army, 
if any one could be found to act as his charioteer. Vrihannala (Arjuna) undertook 
this office (1227), an ^ promised to bring back fine clothes and ornaments for Uttara 
and the other women of the palace (1226). When they arrived in sight of the Kuru 
army, the courage of Uttara (who was a mere youth) failed him ; he refused to fight 
(1241), and jumping from the chariot, ran away (1258). Vrihannala pursued him, 
forced him to return, and made him act as charioteer (1279), while he himself (Arjuna) 
undertook to fight the Kauravas. Then the usual prodigies took place, terror seized 
Bhishma, Duryodhana, and their followers, who suspected that Vrihannala was Arjuna 
in disguise (1286), and even the horses shed tears* (1290). Duryodhana, however, 
declared that if he turned out to be Arjuna, he would have to wander in exile for a 
second period of twelve years (1300). Meanwhile Arjuna made Uttara drive to the 
S'ami-tree, in which his bow Gandiva and other arms were concealed (1306). There, 
having recovered his weapons, he revealed himself to Uttara (1371), and explained also 
the disguises of his brothers and Draupadi. Uttara, then, to test his veracity, inquired 
whether he could repeat Arjuna's ten names, and what each meant (1373). Arjuna 
enumerated them (Arjuna, Phalguna, Jishnu, Kiritin, Swetavahana, Bibhatsu, Vijaya, 
Krishna, Savya-sachin, Dhananjaya), and explained their derivation f (1380 — 1390). 
Uttara then declared that he was satisfied, and no longer afraid of the Kuru army (1393). 
Arjuna next put off his bracelets and woman's attire, strung his bow Gandiva, and 
assumed all his other weapons, which are described as addressing him suppliantly, and 
saying, "we are your servants, ready to carry out your commands J " (*42i). He also 

* Compare Homer, Iliad XVII. 426. 

f See Arjuna's other names in the last note, p. 96. With reference to note *, p. 19, I should 
state that the explanation here given of the name Arjuna is Prithivyam chaturantayam varno 
me durlabhah samah, karomi karma suklam cha tena mam Arjunam viduh. In the note at 
p. 96 I have omitted the name Vijaya, but I have alluded to Arjuna's name Krishna in the 
note at p. 10 1. This name is thus explained: Krishna ityeva dasamam nama chakre pita 
mama, KrishnaVad^tasya satah priyatw^d balakasya vai. 

+ Compare Ramayana I. xxix, where these magical weapons also address Ra^na. See note, 
p. 27. 



FOURTH BOOK OK VIRi^FA-PABVA. 1<>7 

removed Uttara's standard and placed his own ape-emblazoned banner in front of the 
chariot (1438). Then a great battle between Arjuna and the Kauravas took place, in 
which the brother of Karna was killed by Arjuna (1678). Single combats also took 
place between Arjuna and the following heroes: Kripa (1790), Drona (1846), As'wat- 
thaman (1902), Karna (1939), Duhs'asana (1989), Vikarna (1992), Bhishma (2040), 
and Duryodhana (2090). In all these contests Arjuna was victorious. At length the 
whole Kuru army fled before him (2138), and all the property and cattle of Virata was 
recovered. Arjuna then told Uttara to conceal the real circumstances of the battle, and 
to make himself out to Virata as the victor (2145); and having returned to the S'ami- 
tree. he re-deposited his arms and re-assumed the disguise of Vrihannala (2150 . 
Next he desired Uttara to send messengers to his father's capital announcing his victory 

3157). Meanwhile Virata himself with the four Pandavas returned home from Tri- 
garta ; and hearing that Uttara had gone to fight the Kuru army with only a eunuch 
for his charioteer, was much alarmed for his safety (2174), and dispatched a whole 
army to aid him. But Yudhishthira astonished him by saying that with Vrihannala 
he was more than a match for all the Kauravas, gods, and Asuras together (2176). 

Soon afterwards, Uttara's messengers arrived and announced his victory (2177), 
which so delighted Virata that he ordered the whole city to be decorated, and sent his 
daughter Uttara with a procession of women and minstrels to meet his son (2189). 
Meanwhile he called to Kanka (i. e. Yudhishthira as the Sabhastara) to bring dice, 
that he might mark his joy by a game. Kanka advised him not to play, and 
as a warning related the story of Yudhishthira (2195); but in the end they played 
together, and during the game (2198) Virata began to praise his son's courage. Upon 
this. Yudhishthira hinted that he could have done nothing without Vrihannala, which 
so enraged Virata, that he aimed a severe blow at Yudhishthira's nose with one of the 
dice (2208). The nose bled profusely, but Yudhishthira caught the blood in his 
hands, and Draupadi, who happened to be near, received it in a golden vessel (22 11). 
Soon afterwards Uttara arrived, and seeing Kanka covered with blood, asked the 
reason (2222). Virata explained, and Uttara then made his father beg Kanka's 
pardon (2225). The latter was appeased, but declared that if the blood had touched 
the ground, Virata and all his kingdom must have perished (2227). Virata then 
broke out into a long eulogy of his son's courage; but Uttara stopped him. and 
declared that he deserved no credit for the victory, as the son of some deity had 
forced him to return when he was running away in terror, and had conquered the 

Kuru army for him (2242V Virata asked where this divine being was (2252 ). Uttara 
replied that he had vanished, but had promised to re-appear in a day or two 22-4 

Vrihannala (Arjuna) then gave to Uttara all the garments and costly articles which 
they had taken in battle 12257). On the third day after this. Virata held a great 

I' 2 



108 SUMMARY OP THE LEADING STORY OF THE MAHA'-BHa'rATA. 

assembly, at which the five Pandavas attended, and took their seats with the other 
princes (2262). Virata (who did not yet know their real rank) was at first angry at 
this presumption (2266) : Arjuna then revealed who they were. Virata was de- 
lighted, embraced the Pandavas, offered them all his possessions, and to Arjuna his 
daughter Uttara in marriage. Arjuna declined *, but accepted her for his son 
Abhimanyu, whose wife she became (2355). The book closes with a description of 
the marriage festivities, to which Krishna and Balarama were invited (2356). 

FIFTH BOOK or UDYOGA-PARVA.— This book opens with a description of 
an assembly of princes called by Virata, at which the Pandavas, Krishna and Balarama, 
were present. A consultation is held as to what course the Pandavas were to take ; 
and Krishna, in a speech, advised that they should not go to war with their kinsmen 
until they had sent an ambassador to Duryodhana, summoning him to restore half the 
kingdom (24). Balarama supported Krishna's opinion (28), recommended concilia- 
tion (sdman), and suggested that Yudhishthira should try another game at dice with 
S'akuni (36). This speech excited the indignation of Satyaki, who in an angry tone 
counselled war (40). Drupada supported him (66), and recommended that they 
should anticipate Duryodhana by sending messengers to various kings and princes, 
urging them to collect armies and come to their aid (70). Krishna approved the 
counsel of Drupada, but inclined to negotiation rather than to a fratricidal war ; he 
declared that he had only joined the assembled princes to be present at the marriage; 
and that as he was related to both the Pandavas and Kauravas, he should now return 
home and await the course of events, without joining either side (93). He accordingly 
returned to Dwaraka with Balarama and his followers (100). Virata and Drupada 
then sent messengers to all their allies, and collected their forces from all parts (102). 
The sons of Dhritarashtra did the same. After this, the family-priest of Drupada was 
dispatched by the Pandavas as an ambassador to king Dhritarashtra at Hastinapur, to 
try the effect of negotiation (127). 

Meanwhile Krishna and Balarama returned to Dwaraka (131). Duryodhana deter- 
mined to follow Krishna there, hoping to prevail on him to fight on the side of the 
Kuru army. On the very day that Duryodhana arrived in Dwaraka, Arjuna came 
there also, and it happened that they both reached the door of Krishna's apartment, 
where he was asleep, at the same moment (135). Duryodhana succeeded in entering 
first, and took up his station at Krishna's head. Arjuna followed behind, and stood 
reverently at Krishna's feet (137). On awaking, Krishna's eyes first fell on Arjuna (138). 

* Giving as his reason that she had trusted to him like a father when he had lived with her 
in the women's apartments, as eunuch (2328). 



FIFTH BOOK OR UDYOGA-PARVA. 100 

He then asked them both the object of their visit. Duryodhana thereupon requested 
his aid in battle, declaring that although Krishna was equally related to Arjuna, yet 
that, as he (Duryodhana) had entered the room first, he was entitled to the priority. 
Krishna answered that, as he had seen Arjuna first, he should give Arjuna the first 
choice of two things. On the one side, he placed himself, stipulating that he was to 
lay down his weapons and abstain from fighting. On the other, he placed his army of 
a hundred million (arbuda) warriors, named Narayanas. Arjuna, without hesitation, 
chose Krishna; and Duryodhana, with glee, accepted the army, thinking that as 
Krishna was pledged not to fight, he would be unable to help the Pandavas in 
battle (154). 

Duryodhana next went to Balarama and asked his aid ; but Balarama declared 
that both he and Krishna had determined to take no part in the strife* (159). When 
Duryodhana was gone, Krishna expressed his surprise that Arjuna should have 
chosen him (Krishna), although pledged not to fight (ayudhyamdnam). Arjuna 
replied, that he did so in the hope that Krishna would act as his charioteer, from which 
he expected to gain as much in prestige as if he had received material assistance. 
Krishna then consented to do so (170), and with Arjuna joined Yudhishthira, who 
with his brothers was still living in the country of Virata. 

S'alya, king of Madra, and brother of Madri, now arrived with a large army to 
aid his relatives, the Pandavas, but Duryodhana by an artifice contrived to make him 
pledge himself to take the side of the Kauravas. He, however, promised Yudhishthira 
to assist Arjuna when engaged in single combat with Karna, by acting as charioteer 
to the latter, and discouraging him (215). S'alya then, to console Y T udhishthira for 
the sufferings he and his brothers had endured, related, in a long episode, the troubles 
of the god Indra, his conflict with a three-headed son of Twashtri, named Tris'iras, 
and with the demon Vritra, &c. (229 — 553). 

We have next an account of the arrival at Hastinapur of the Brahman ambassador 
sent by Drupada and the Pandavas. He made a speech before the assembled Kuril 
princes (604), calling on Bhishma and Dhritarashtra to give back to the Pandavas 
their paternal inheritance (paitrikam dhanam). He declared that the Pandavas were 
desirous to forgive and forget (prishthatah kri) all past wrongs, and to return to their 
possessions without destroying their kindred in battle. Still, if war was forced on 
them, they had eleven armies ready to fight (620). Karna, in reply to this, made 
an angry speech, saying, that the Pandavas had brought upon themselves the 
hardships they had undergone, and that the time was not yet expired during which 



* Compare Megha-dtita, v. 51. where Balarama is described as Bandhu-prftyd Bamara- 

viinukho. 



110 SUMMARY OF THE LEADING STORY OP THE MAHA-BHA'rATA. 

they were bound by agreement to wander in the forest (636). " Duryodhana," he 
added, " would give up the whole earth even to an enemy, if justice required it, but 
would not yield a fraction through fear" (635). Bhishma rebuked Karna for his 
fiery speech, and counselled caution, lest, killed by Arjuna in battle, ' they should 
be made to eat the dust' (640). Dhritarashtra agreed with Bhishma, and determined 
on sending Sanjaya (his charioteer, also called Gavalgani) as an ambassador with 
kind messages to the Pandavas, to Virata, and to Krishna (684). Sanjaya accord- 
ingly arrived at Upaplavya, where the Pandavas were dwelling with Virata, and 
delivered the compliments with which he was charged. Yudhishthira * made a civil 
speech in return (690), and asked what message he had brought from Dhritarashtra. 
Sanjaya replied, that Dhritarashtra wished for peace, to which Yudhishthira rejoined, 
that neither did he desire war (738). A long conversation ensued, in which Sanjaya 
exhorted the Pandavas to pacification (sdman). Yudhishthira said that he could not 
abandon his duty (dharma), and that he would be guided by the advice of Krishna. 
The latter then made a speech (809), in which he expressed himself equally desirous 
of pacification, but thought it impossible to avoid war, in consequence of the grasping 
avaricious nature of Dhritarashtra and his sons (811), and of the wrongs suffered at their 
hands by Draupadi and the Pandavas (844). He also observed that the duty 
(dharma) of a Kshatriya was to fight. The colloquy ended by Yudhishthira sending 
back the following message to the Kauravas. " Peace and friendship shall be between 
us, provided that we receive back our share of the kingdom, together with five 
towns f , one for each of the brothers (935). We are prepared either for peace or for 
war, for mildness or severity" (938). 

Sanjaya then returned to Dhritarashtra, but being fatigued with his journey (969), 
declined to deliver his message till the next day in full assembly. This caused Dhrita- 
rashtra to pass a sleepless anxious night ; and to while away the time he sent for 
Vidura, who entertained him with a tedious didactic discourse (contained in the 
section called Prajdgara-parva, 972 — 1564 J), at the end of which, Dhritarashtra 
asked to be instructed on certain mysterious points relative to the immortality of the 
soul and its union with the body. Vidura declared that, being the son of a Sudra 
woman, he was prohibited from discoursing on such matters (1569); but a Rishi 
named Sanatsujata appeared at his summons, and helped to pass the remainder of the 
night by a long metaphysical disquisition (1578 — 1790). 



* I have omitted in note J, p. 96, a name of Yudhishthira here used, viz. Ajata-satru. 
t The five townships (grdmdh) claimed by the Pandavas were Kusasthala (elsewhere Avi- 
sthala), Vrikasthala, Malcandi, Varanavata, and Avasana. 

X Many verses in the Hitopadesa are taken from this and other moral discourses of Vidura. 



FIFTH BOOK OR UDYOGA-PARVA. Ill 

Next day an assembly was held at which all the Kauravas were present, and 
Sanjaya detailed in the most minute manner all that had passed in his interview 
with the Pandavas *. Considerable confusion then arose among the Kuru party, 
some counselling war, others peace. This is described at great length. Bhishma 
declared that Arjuna as an incarnation of Nara, and Krishna as a form of Narayana, 
were invincible (1936; see Muir's Texts, vol. IV. p. 196). Dhritarashtra was for con- 
ciliation, and blamed Duryodhana and his other sons for their infatuation (2257). 
Sanjaya described the forces he saw collected on the side of the Pandavas (2233), and 
enumerated the principal chiefs, viz. Krishna, Chekitana, Satyaki (called Yuyudhanaf), 
Satyajit, Drupada, with his son Dhrishtadyumna, S'ikhandin, Virata, with his sons 
Sankha and Uttara, Suryadatta, Madiras'wa, Abhimanyu or Saubhadra (son of 
Arjuna), Jarasandhi, Dhrishta-ketu king of Chedi, the five Kaikeyas (brothers), 
Uttamaujas, Yudhamanyu, &c, of whom Dhrishtadyumna (remembering the insult 
received by his sister) was the most eager for the war, and was continually urging 
the Pandavas to commence hostilities (2278). The Pandu forces were to be dis- 
tributed so that each division should be ranged in opposition to certain sections of 
the Kuru army (2243). Yudhishthira was to oppose Salya king of Madra; Bhima 
was to do battle with Duryodhana and his brothers ; Arjuna was to be ranged against 
Kama, As'watthaman (son of Drona), Vikarna, and Jayadratha. Other great chiefs on 
the Kuru side were Bhishma, Drona, Somadatta, Kripa, &c. 

Before any actual declaration of war, the Pandavas held a final consultation, at 
which Arjuna begged Krishna to undertake the office of a mediator, hoping to settle 
the matter by negotiation (2802). Sahadeva, supported by Satyaki, advocated imme- 
diate war (2862); and Draupadi too, who could not forget the insult she had 
received (see p. 103, 1. 14), deprecated all attempts at conciliation. Arjuna how- 
ever still persisted in requesting Krishna to make the attempt, as he (Krishna) 
was regarded as equally friendly to both sides (2920). " If Duryodhana," he said, 
" refuses to listen to your conciliatory language, and to consult his own interest, then 
let nothing save him from his fate." Krishna then consented to set out for Hastina- 
pur as mediator. 

Then follows a description of his departure in a splendid chariot, accompanied by 
Satyaki f, who was told by Krishna to stow away in the car the sankha, chakra, gada, 
and all Krishna's other weapons, for fear of treachery on the part of Duryodhana 
(2931). The chariot was followed for a short distance by the Pandavas, and met 

* Much matter is here interpolated; for instance, a long speech made by Arjuna, in which 
he prophecied various incidents of the coining war, and the remorse of Duryodhana. 

t SsCtyaki, also called Ywyudkoma and Sfameya, was son of Satyaka, and grandson of S ini 
(2930). He belonged to the same family as Krishna. 



112 SUMMARY OP THE LEADING STORY OF THE MAHX-BHARATA. 

midway by Parasu-rama and various Rishis (2984), who informed Krishna of their 
resolution to be present at the coming congress of Kuru princes. Krishna halted for 
the night at Vrikasthala (3012), where he received honour from the inhabitants. 
When Dhritarashtra heard of his approach, he declared his intention of presenting 
him with magnificent presents (3040). Duryodhana, however, deprecated all such 
expressions of devotion, and hinted that he should detain Krishna as a prisoner (3090). 
Both Dhritarashtra and Bhishma were horrified at this speech, and declared that, 
both as ambassador and relative, he was worthy of all respect. Next day, all except 
Duryodhana went out to meet Krishna; and the latter, thus escorted, entered the 
house of Dhritarashtra. He and Vidura honoured him, and made friendly inquiries 
after the Pandavas (3123). In the afternoon Krishna paid a visit to his father's 
sister Kunti (or Pritha, the mother of Yudhishthira, Arjuna, and Bhima), and con- 
soled her in a long conversation (3128 — 3234). Krishna then visited the house of 
Duryodhana, but refused to accept his hospitality or to eat with him (3247). He 
declared that he would eat with no one except Vidura, to whose house he next went, 
and was there entertained (3274). Krishna then told Vidura the object of his journey, 
and his desire to effect a reconciliation between the rival cousins (3324). 

After that, we have an account of Krishna's retiring to rest in the house of Vidura, 
and of his performing all the appointed religious ceremonies on awaking in the morn- 
ing (3334). He then dressed himself, put on the jewel Kaustabha (3343), and set out 
for the assembly. Next follows a description of the great congress. The Rishis, headed 
by Narada, appeared in the sky, and were accommodated with seats in the assembly 
(337° — 3375)- Duryodhana and Kama sat together on one seat, a little apart from 
Krishna. The latter opened the proceedings by a speech, which commenced thus : "Let 
there be peace (sama) between the Kurus and Pandavas" (3386) : then, looking towards 
Dhritarashtra, he said, " It rests with you and me to effect a reconciliation" (3396). 
When he had concluded a long harangue, all remained riveted and thrilled by his 
eloquence (3448). None ventured to reply. 

Paras'u-rama then broke silence, and related the story of king Dambhodbhava 
(345o; see Muir's Texts, vol. IV. p. 198). He ended by declaring that Arjuna and 
Krishna were Nara and Narayana, and therefore invincible (3496). 

The sage Kanwa then addressed Duryodhana, praised Krishna and Arjuna, recom- 
mended peace, and related the story of Matali (351 1 — 3710). Duryodhana knitted 
his brow at this speech, then, to show his scorn, struck his thigh, and looking at 
Kama, burst out into a loud laugh (371 1). Upon that, Narada rebuked his obsti- 
nacy, related the history of Galava, a disciple of Vis wamitra, and that of Yayati, both of 
whom suffered by their pride and obstinacy (3720 — 41 16), and recommended him to 
make peace with the Pandavas (41 18). Dhritarashtra then declared that he concurred 



FIFTH BOOK OR UDYOGA-PARVA. 113 

in the opinion of the Rishis, but that he had no power over his wicked son Duryodhana. 
He therefore begged Krishna to try his influence once more. Thereupon Krishna 
made another effort to persuade Duryodhana (4128), and was seconded by Bhishma 
(4187), Vidura, Drona, and Dhritarashtra, who all joined their entreaties (4194 — 4231). 
But all to no effect ; Duryodhana only made an angry reply, and refused to give up 
any territory : " It was not our fault," he said, " if the Pandavas were conquered at 
dice" (4241). Krishna's wrath then rose in earnest (4259). Duhs'asana, alarmed, said to 
Duryodhana, " If you will not consent to peace, the Kauravas will deliver you, and 
Karna, and me, bound, into the hands of the Pandavas" (4281). Upon that, Duryo- 
dhana rose up and left the assembly, followed by his brothers (4287). 

The queen Gandhari was then sent for, that she might make an effort to appease 
her son (4315). Acceding to her request, Duryodhana returned to the assembly, his 
eyes red with anger (4326). Gandhari then addressed him, entreating him to give up 
half the kingdom to the Pandavas (4353). Spurning her advice, he went away again 
in a fury (4364), and consulted with Karna, S'akuni, and Duhs'asana, how he might 
seize Krishna by force and imprison him (4368). Dhritarashtra suspecting his inten- 
tion, ordered him to be summoned again to the assembly, and rebuked him sternly 
(4396). Krishna then addressing him, said, " You think that I am alone, but know 
that the Pandavas, Andhakas, Vrishnis, Adityas, Rudras, Vasus, and Rishis are all 
present here in me." Thereupon he laughed aloud, and flames of fire, of the size of 
a thumb, settled on him. Brahma appeared on his forehead, Rudra on his breast, the 
guardians of the world on his arms, Agni was generated from his mouth ; the Adityas, 
Sadhyas, Vasus, As'wins, Maruts with Indra, Vis'wadevas, Yakshas, Gandharvas, and 
Rakshasas were also manifested around him ; Arjuna was produced from his right 
arm ; Balarama from his left arm ; Bhima, Y r udhishthira, and the sons of Madri from 
his back ; flames of fire issued from his eyes, nose, and ears ; and the sun's rays from 
the pores of his skin* (4419 — 4430). At this awful sight, the assembled princes were 
obliged to close their eyes ; but the blind Dhritarashtra was gifted by Krishna with 
divine vision, that he might behold the glorious spectacle of his identification with 
every form (4437). Then a great earthquake and other portents occurred (4439), 
and the congress broke up. Krishna, having suppressed his divinity, re-assumed his 
human form and departed. Before rejoining the Pandavas, he paid a farewell visit to 
his father's sister Pritha, and told her all that had happened (4459). She narrated to 
him the stories of Muchukunda and Vidula (4467 — 4668), after which Krishna set out 
on his return. He took Karna with him for some distance in his chariot, hoping to 

* This remarkahlo passage, identifying Vishnu with every thing in the universe, may he a 
later interpolation. 

ft 



114 SUMMAEY OF THE LEADING STORY OF THE MAhX-BHXrATA. 

persuade him to take part with the Pandavas as a sixth brother (4737). But, notwith- 
standing all Krishna's arguments, Karna would not be persuaded ; and, leaving the 
chariot, returned to the sons of Dhritarashtra (4883). 

We have next an account of an interview between Karna and Pritha. She revealed 
to him the story of his birth (see p. 94 of this volume), and begged him not to fight 
against his half-brothers. A heavenly voice, issuing from the sun, confirmed her 
story, bidding Karna obey his mother (4960). Karna at first wavered; but the 
thought that men would call him a coward for deserting the Kuru party made him 
resolve not to take part with the Pandavas. He however promised not to join in 
mortal combat with any but Arjuna (4949). 

Krishna's return to the Pandavas at Upaplavya is next described (8957). He re- 
counted all that had taken place at Hastinapur, and informed Yudhishthira that the 
army of Duryodhana was assembling at Kurukshetra (5095). 

Yudhishthira, hearing this, proceeded to marshal his forces, which consisted of 
seven full armies (akshauhinis) , over which the following were appointed generals : 
Drupada, Dhrishtadyumna, Virata, S'ikhandin, Satyaki, Chekitana, and Bhima 
(5101). By the advice of Krishna, Dhrishtadyumna was appointed general-in- chief, 
to lead them to Kurukshetra, where they formed a camp (5145 — 5175). 

Soon afterwards, Balarama declared his resolution to retire from the contest. Both 
Bhima and Duryodhana, he said, were his pupils in the use of the mace ; he had an 
equal regard for both, and he could not look on while the Kauravas were being 
destroyed ; he should therefore make a pilgrimage to the banks of the Saraswati, 
and there wait the end of the war (5348). 

We have next a description of the coming of Rukmin, son of the king of Bhoja, to 
the camp of the Pandavas. He had a wonderful bow, called Vijaya (5359), and 
offered himself to Yudhishthira as an ally. 

Then follows an account of how Uluka was sent by Duryodhana to the Pandavas, 
with a hostile message, challenging them to battle (5407 — 5713). 

Meanwhile Bhishma consented to accept the generalship of the Kuru army (5719). 
Though averse to fighting against his kinsmen, he could not as a Kshatriya abstain 
from joining in the war, when once commenced. As the oldest warrior on the field *, 
he was well acquainted with the chiefs on each side, and, at the request of Duryo- 



* Bhishma, though really the grand-uncle of the Kuru and Pandu princes, is often styled 
their grandfather (pitdmaJia) ; and though really the uncle of Dhritarashtra and Pandu, is 
sometimes styled their father. He is a kind of Priam in caution and sagacity, but like a 
hardy old veteran, never consents to leave the fighting to others. 



SIXTH BOOK OR BHl'sHMA-PARVA. 115 

dhana, enumerated all the chariots and combatants of both Kauravas and Pandavas 
(57 J 4— 594o). 

Bhishma then told Duryodhana that although he was willing to fight, he could 
never bring himself either to kill the sons of Kunti, or to fight with the son of 
Drupada, S'ikhandin, who was first born as a female, and afterwards changed to a 
male (5940). To explain his reasons for not fighting with S'ikhandin, he related the 
story of Amba, daughter of the king of Kasi, who with her two sisters, Ambika and 
Ambalika, (afterwards wives of Vichitra-virya, and mothers of Dhritarashtra and 
Pan du, see p. 92 of this volume,) had been carried off by Bhishma at a swayamvara, 
that he might marry them to his brother Vichitra-virya (595°) • 

The eldest, Amba, on reaching Hastinapur, told Bhishma that she had affianced 
herself to the king of Salwa, and begged so piteously to be released and sent to him, 
that Bhishma consented. When, however, she presented herself to her affianced 
lord, he refused to receive her, hearing that she had been carried off by Bhishma. 
Amba then wandered about disconsolate, not knowing where to take refuge. At last 
she was told by an ascetic to apply to Paras'u-Rama (6047). He told her that she 
should be born in the family of Drupada as a girl, and should afterwards become a 
man, and kill Bhishma, in revenge for the disgrace he had brought upon her (7383). 

In the course of this long episode we have a description of a single combat 
between Bhishma and Parasu-Rama (7142), as well as the story of S'ikhandin's birth 
and transformation (7391). 

SIXTH BOOK or BHI'SHMA-PARVA.— Before the armies joined battle, Vyasa 
appeared to his son Dhritarashtra, who was greatly dejected at the prospect of the 
war, consoled him, and offered to confer sight upon him, that he might view the 
combat. Dhritarashtra declined witnessing the slaughter of his kindred, and Vyasa 
then said that he would endow Sanjaya ( Dhritarashtra' s charioteer) with the faculty 
of knowing every thing that took place, making him invulnerable, and enabling him to 
transport himself by a thought at any time to any part of the field of battle (43 — 47). 

We have then an account of all the prodigies which occurred before the fight. 
These exceeded in horror all the usual hackneyed portents. Not only did showers of 
blood fall (21), not only was thunder heard in a cloudless sky (67), but the moon 
looked like fire, asses were born from cows, cows from mares, jackals from dogs, 
&c. &c. (50 — 113). 

Sanjaya then entertained Dhritarashtra with a long description of the earth in 
general, and Bharata-varsha (India) in particular, its geography, botany, /.oology, vVc. 
&c. (163 — 893). Part of this is translated in Wilson's Vishnu-Purana. p. 1 79. 

The armies now met on Kurukshetra, a vast plain north-west of Delhi ; the Klin 

Q. 2 



116 SUMMARY OF THE LEADING STORY OF THE MAHA'-BHa'rATA. 

forces being commanded by Bhishma, and the Pandavas by Dhrishtadyumna, son of 
Drupada (832 ; and see Salya-parva, 1590). While the hosts stood drawn up in battle- 
array, Krishna, acting as Arjuna's charioteer (see p. 109), addressed him in a long 
philosophical discourse, which forms the celebrated episode called Bhagavad-gita 
(830 — 1532 ; and see p. 32 of this volume). 

It would be useless to detail all the fights between the warriors described in 
this book, which closes with an account of a terrific conflict between Bhishma and 
Arjuna. The latter resorted to what was deemed an unfair artifice, making use of 
S'ikhandin, who shot Bhishma in the breast after his bow was broken by Arjuna 
(5610). Arjuna then transfixed Bhishma with innumerable arrows, so that there was 
not a space of two fingers' breadth on his whole body unpierced (5653). Then 
Bhishma fell from his chariot ; but his body could not touch the ground, surrounded 
as it was by countless arrows (5658). There it remained, reclining as it were on an 
arrowy couch (sara-talpe saydna). In that state consciousness returned, and the old 
warrior became divinely supported (5659). He had received from his father the power 
of fixing the time of his own death (5674), and now declared that he intended retain- 
ing life till the sun entered the summer solstice (uttardyana). 

All the warriors on both sides ceased fighting that they might view this wonderful 
sight, and do homage to their dying relative (5716). As he lay on his arrowy bed, 
his head hanging down, he begged for a pillow; whereupon the chiefs brought all 
kinds of soft supports, which the hardy old soldier sternly rejected. Arjuna then 
made a pillow for his head with three sharp arrows, which Bhishma quite approved 
(5735)- Soon after this, he asked Arjuna to bring him water. Whereupon Arjuna 
struck the ground with an arrow, and forthwith a pure spring burst forth (5785), 
which so refreshed Bhishma that he called for Duryodhana, and in a long speech 
begged him, before it was too late, to restore half the kingdom to the Pandavas (5813). 
He then tried to persuade Karna to desert Duryodhana and join his brothers, the 
Pandavas (5838). When, however, Kama refused, Bhishma told him that his duty 
as a Kshatriya was to go on fighting (5854). 

It is to be observed that this book does not close with the death of Bhishma. He 
is supposed to retain life supernaturally, and appears again in both the Santi-parva 
and Anus'asana-parva, where, lying in a moribund state on the bed of arrows shot at 
him by Arjuna (sara-talpa), he yet had strength given him to edify Yudhishthira, 
after the conclusion of the war, with most prolix discourses on the duties of kings, 
&c. &c. 

SEVENTH BOOK or DRONA-PARVA.— This book is spun out most tediously, 
and there is much sameness in the interminable descriptions of single combats be- 



SEVENTH BOOK OR DRONA-PARVA. — EIGHTH BOOK &C. 117 

tween the heroes. After the fall of Bhishma, Karna advised Duryodhana to appoint 
his old tutor Drona (who was chiefly formidable from his stock of fiery arrows and 
magical weapons*) to the command of the army (150). This was accordingly done 
(173) ; and we have then a long narrative of battles. The king of Trigarta and his 
four brothers bound themselves by an oath to slay Arjuna (683) ; and we have an 
account of the destruction (782) of these conspirators (sansaptaka). Innumerable 
battle-scenes are then described, both single combats (see p. 26 of this volume) and 
general engagements or melees (sankula-yuddham, tumula-yuddham), in which the Kuru 
party sometimes had the advantage. 

Abhimanyu (son of Arjuna by Subhadra) was slain by the son of Duhs'asana (1940). 
A terrific fight took place between Drona, Arjuna, and Krishna. Hundreds of arrows 
were discharged on both sides ; but Arjuna at last retired from the contest, declaring 
that he could not contend against his old tutor (3250). Then we have an account of 
how Jayadratha was killed by Arjuna (6275). Yudhishthira had his armour pierced 
by Kritavarman (also called Hardikya), and was obliged to retire from the combat 
(7395). Ghatotkacha (son of the Rakshasi Hidimba by Bhima) was put to flight by 
As'watthaman (7435). Afterwards occurred the great battle between Ghatotkacha 
and Karna, in which the former as a Rakshasa assumed various forms (7995), but 
was eventually slain (8104). This disaster filled the Pandavas with grief (8178), but 
the fortunes of the day were retrieved by Dhrishtadyumna (son of Drupada), who 
fought with Drona, and succeeded in decapitating his lifeless body, after Drona 
had laid down his arms and saved Dhrishtadyumna from the enormous crime of 
killing a Brahman and an Acharya, by transporting himself to heaven in a glittering 
shape like the sun (8861). His translation to Brahmaloka was only witnessed by five 
persons (8865), and before leaving the earth he made over his divine weapons to his 
son As'watthaman. The loss of their general caused the flight of the whole Kuru 
army (8879). 

The sage Narada, who is introduced in this book, gives a short account of the 
history of Rama (2224), which is more fully detailed in the Vana-parva (15913). 

EIGHTH BOOK or KARNA-PARVA.— This is a much shorter book than the 
last, but various single combats are again described with far too much diffuseness. 
The grief of the Kurus at the death of Drona was profound (52), but they appointed 
Karna general, in his place, and renewed the combat. 

A fight took place between Bhima and Karna (2423), in which the latter was struck 

* These dgneydstra were received by Drona from the son of Agni, who received them from 

Drona's father, Bharadwaja. See Johnson's Mah.*t-bh;trata Selections, p. 1, 



118 SUMMARY OF THE LEADING STORY OF THE MAhX-BHA'rATA. 

down senseless, but was rescued by Salya (2438). Karna, however, renewed the 
combat with Bhima, and a tremendous general engagement ensued, so that the rivers 
flowed with blood, and the field became covered with mutilated corpses (2550. 3899). 
Again numbers of warriors bound themselves by oath (sansaptaka) to slay Arjuna, 
and again were all defeated by him (2608 and 4124). An army of Mlechchhas or 
barbarians with thirteen hundred elephants was sent by Duryodhana to attack 
Arjuna, but they were all routed (4133). 

The combat between Bhima and Duhsasana is next described, in which the latter 
was slain, and Bhima, remembering the insult to Draupadi, and the vow he made in 
consequence (see p. 103, line 15 of this volume), cut off his head, and drank his blood, 
on the field of battle (4235). 

Then occurred the great conflict between Karna and Arjuna. Arjuna was wounded 
and stunned by an arrow thrown by Kama (4777), and seemed likely to be defeated 
had not the wheel of Karna' s chariot come off. This obliged Karna to leap down, 
and his head was then shot off by one of Arjuna's arrows* (4798). His death struck 
terror into the Kuru army, which fled in dismay (4816), while Bhima and the Pandu 
party raised a shout of triumph, which shook heaven and earth (4824). 

NINTH BOOK or S'ALYA-PARVA.— This book brings the principal details of 
the great battles to a conclusion. On the death of Karna, Salya, king of Madra, was 
appointed to the command of the Kuru army, then much reduced in numbers (9 and 
327). A general engagement (sankula-yuddham) is described, in which the Kauravas 
were routed (188). Kripa advised making peace (228); but Duryodhana would not 
hear of it (264). We have then a description of Bhima's mace (577), and of the 
combat between Salya and Bhima with this weapon, in which both were equally 
matched (693; and see p. 25 of this volume). Afterwards a great battle took place 
between Salya and Yudhishthira. S'alya was at first aided and rescued by Aswat- 
thaman (860), but was eventually killed (919). We have then an account of an 
attack made on the Pandavas by Salwa, leader of a band of Mlechchhas. He was 
mounted on a savage elephant (1067), and the Pandavas gave way before the fury of 
his attack (1074). Dhrishtadyumna, however, stood firm, and meeting him, killed 
his elephant with a blow of his club (1089). Satyaki then shot off his head with an 

* This arrow is called in the text AnjaWca (4788). The arrows used in the Maha-bharata 
are of various kinds, some having crescent-shaped heads. It may be useful to subjoin a list of 
words for arrow, which occur constantly in the description of battles, as follows : Sara, vdna, 
ishu, sdyaka, patrin, kdnda, vi'sikha, ndrdcha, vipdtha, prishatJca, bhalla, tomara (a kind of 
lance), salya (a dart), ishikd, siUmukha. 



NINTH BOOK OR s'ALYA-PARVA. Ill) 

arrow* (1091), and the Pandavas rallying, the Kuru army was in its turn broken 
(1093). Again the Kuru side gained a temporary advantage, and the Pandu army 
was thrown into confusion by a storm of arrows discharged by Sakuni (121 1). After 
this the Kauravas suffered continual reverses ; one by one the chiefs were slain or put 
to flight, and only Duryodhana remained on the field (1582). He rallied his scattered 
forces for a final charge, which led to a complete rout and general slaughter, Duryo- 
dhana, As'watthaman (son of Drona), Kritavarman (also called Bhoja), and Kripa (see 
note, p. 97) being the only chiefs of the Kuru army left alive f. Nothing remained 
of eleven whole armies (1581). Duryodhana, wounded, disheartened, and alarmed 
for his own safety, resolved on flight. 

On foot, with nothing but his mace, he took refuge in a lake, hiding himself under 
the water, and then, by his magical power, solidifying and supporting it so as to form 
a chamber around him, and prevent others from entering J (i594- 1620). Here he 
was followed by the other three surviving Kuru heroes, who were informed of his 
hiding-place by Sanjaya. They called upon him to come out and renew the fight 
(1692), declaring that if he would join them they would still be more than a match for 
their enemies. Their colloquy was overheard by some hunters (1676), who gave 
information to the Pandavas. The latter came to the lake (1742), and finding it 
impossible to get at Duryodhana, were recommended by Krishna to resort to stra- 
tagem (1749). Yudhishthira then commenced taunting Duryodhana, ""Wliere is your 
manliness ? where is your pride ? where your valour ? where your skill in arms, that 
you hide yourself at the bottom of a lake ? Rise up and fight ; perform your duty as 
a Kshatriya" (1774). Duryodhana answered, that it was not from fear, but fatigue, 
that he was lying under the water, and that he was ready to fight them all. He 
begged them, however, to go and take the kingdom, as he had no longer any pleasure 
in life, his brothers being killed. Yudhishthira then continued his sarcasms, till at 
last, thoroughly roused by his goading words (vdk-pratoda, 1853), Duryodhana rose 
up out of the lake, his body streaming with blood and water (1865). It was then 
settled that a single combat on foot should take place between him and Bhima with 
clubs. 

AVhen Balarama heard that his two pupils (see p. 114, 1. 20) were about to engage in 

* The arrow was of the kind called bhalla, see note to the last page. 

+ Sanjaya was taken by Dhrishtadyumna, and would have been killed had not Vyasa sud- 
denly appeared and demanded that he should be dismissed unharmed (1605 ; and compare 
p. 115, 1. 11 from bottom). 

X So I interpret astamhhayat toyam mdyayd (162 1) and vishtabhya apah sira-nuiyayd 
(1680. 1739). Duryodhana is described as lying down and sleeping at the bottom of the 
lake (1705). 



120 SUMMAEY OF THE LEADING STORY OF THE MAHA'-BH a'eATA. 

conflict, he determined to be present, that he might ensure fair play. Before the fight, 
Krishna made another attempt to bring about a reconciliation. He went to.Hastina- 
pur, and had an interview with Dhritarashtra (1974), but returned re infectd. 

A long episode is here inserted about the mdhdtmya, or efficacy of tirthas, and 
especially of those on the sacred Saraswati (2006). The story of the Moon, who was 
afflicted with consumption, on account of the curse of Daksha, is also told (2030), as 
well as the celebrated legend of Vas'ishtha and Vis'wamitra (2296). Then follows the 
description of the great gadd-yuddha. The two combatants entered the lists and 
challenged each other, while Krishna, Balarama, and all the other Pandavas sat 
round as spectators. The usual portents then occurred (3135). The fight was 
tedious, the combatants being equally matched (see the description of a similar fight 
between Bhima and S'alya at p. 25 of this volume). At last Bhima struck Duryodhana 
a blow on his thighs, broke them, and felled him to the ground (3292; and see p. 28 
of this volume). Then reminding him of the insult received by Draupadi, he kicked 
him on the head with his left foot (3313). Upon this Balarama started up in anger, de- 
claring that Bhima had fought unfairly; it being a rule in club-fights that no blow should 
be given below the navel (3345). He was, however, calmed by Krishna, who informed 
him that the blow on the thighs was fated, being the consequence of a curse pronounced 
on Bhima by Maitreya in former days (3357). This did not convince Balarama, who 
maintained that Bhima should ever after be called Jihma-yodhin (unfair-fighter), while 
Duryodhana should always be celebrated as Riju-yodhin (fair-fighter). Balarama 
then returned to Dwaraka (3365 — 3370), and the Pandavas with Krishna entered the 
camp of Duryodhana, and took possession of it and its treasures as victors (3492). 

When Arjuna and Krishna alighted from their chariot, the ape-emblazoned banner 
vanished, and the chariot, filled with an internal fire, (caused by the dgneydstra of 
Drona [Drona-parva, 3227], and only prevented from bursting forth by the presence of 
Krishna), was suddenly reduced to ashes (3473). 

The five Pandavas, with Satyaki (see note, p. in), by the advice of Krishna (who 
was prescient of the coming night-attack), took up their abode outside the camp, on 
the bank of a river (3498), and Yudhishthira, afraid of the wrath of Gandhari, (her 
son having been vanquished by an unfair blow,) sent Krishna to Hastinapur to soothe 
her (351 1). Krishna did so, but foreseeing the treacherous attack about to be made 
by Aswatthaman, returned suddenly (3573). 

The book closes by an account of how the three surviving Kuru warriors (Aswat- 
thaman, Kripa, and Kritavarman), hearing of the fall of Duryodhana, hastened to the 
place where he was lying. There they found him weltering in his blood (3629), but 
still alive. He spake to them, told them not to grieve for him, and assured them that 
he should die happy in having done his duty as a Kshatriya. He then told Kripa to 



TENTH BOOK OB SAUPTIKA-PARY A. ll ; l 

fetch a jar of water and to inaugurate As'watthaman general (3666). Duryodhana' 
death, however, is still delayed. 

TENTH BOOK or SAUPTIKA-PARVA.— The three surviving Kuru warriors 
(As'watthaman, also called Drauni ; Kritavarman, also called Bhoja ; and Kripa, also 
called S'aradvata), leaving Duryodhana still lingering alive with broken thighs on the 
battle-field, took refuge in a forest (17). There, at night, they rested near a Xyagro- 
dha-tree, where thousands of crows were roosting (36). As'watthaman, who could 
not sleep, saw an owl approach stealthily and destroy numbers of the sleeping crows 
(41). This suggested to him the idea of entering the camp of the Pandavas by night 
and slaughtering them while asleep (supta *). He communicated his project to Krita- 
varman and his uncle Kripa (see note, p. 97), who were both wean-, and recommended 
deferring the attack till the morning (142). But As'watthaman declared that he could 
not rest till he had avenged his father Drona by killing Dhrishtadyumna (167; and 
see p. 117, 1. 20). Kripa answered, that to slaughter sleeping men could not be right 
(186). But As'watthaman reminded him of various instances of unfair fighting on the 
part of the Pandavas; — how Dhrishtadyumna had killed Drona after the latter 
had laid down his arms (see p. 117, 1. 21); how Arjuna had taken advantage of 
the accident to Karna's chariot, and so killed him (see p. 118, 1. 14); how Arjuna 
had made use of S'ikhandin in his fight with Bhishma, and killed him by an artifice 
(see p. 116, I.9; and compare Santi-parva, 1362); and how Duryodhana had been 
unfairly struck down by Bhima in the single-combat with maces. He then set 
out for the Pandu camp, followed by Kripa and Kritavarman (215). At the gate of 
the camp his progress was arrested by an awful figure, who is described as gigantic, 
glowing like the sun, dressed in a tiger's skin, with long arms, and bracelets formed 
of serpents. This was the deity Siva t; and after a tremendous conflict with him, 
Aswatthaman recognised the god and worshipped him (251). Suddenly a golden 
altar appeared surrounded by multitudes of frightful spirits and goblins (263) ; As'wat- 
thaman was appalled, and to appease Mahadeva entered the fire on the altar, offering 
his own person as an oblation thereon (306). This appears to have satisfied the god, 
who preserved his body from harm, and informed him that, having been formerly pro- 



* Hence the adjective sauptika. 

t The description of S'iva in this passage is very remarkable. Hundreds and thousands of 
Krishnas are said to be manifested from the light issuing from his person (124). M 
S'iva's names also are enumerated (252) as follows : Vgra, Sthanu, S iva, Tim Ira. S 'an a, 1 
IWara, Girisa, Varada, Deva, Bhava, BhaVana, S'itikantha. Aja. S'ukra Dakaha kratu-hani. 
Hara, Yiswarupa. Viriipaksha, Bahun'ipa. Vmapati 

It 



122 SUMMARY OF THE LEADING STORY OF THE MAHA'-BHA'rATA. 

pitiated by Krishna (313), he (S'iva) had hitherto protected the family of Drupada, 
but that their hour was now come, and he should defend them no more. Upon that 
he entered the body of As'watthaman, which forthwith shone brilliantly, and was sur- 
rounded by attendant spirits and Rakshasas (318). 

As'watthaman then directed Kripa and Kritavarman to stand at the camp-gate and 
kill any of the Pandu army that attempted to escape (327). He himself made his way 
alone and stealthily to the tent of Dhrishtadyumna, who was lying there fast asleep. 
Him he killed by stamping on him, declaring that one who had murdered his father — 
a Brahman and an Acharya — was not worthy to die in any other way (342). As'wat- 
thaman then killed Uttamaujas when asleep (353), and afterwards Yudhamanyu (356), 
and many other warriors who had no power to resist, believing themselves to be attacked 
by a Rakshasa. The five sons of the Pandavas by Draupadi (see their names, second 
note, p. 100), hearing of the death of Dhrishtadyumna, now attacked As'watthaman, and 
were all successively killed by him (372 — 378). Next he killed S'ikhandin (383), the 
whole family of Drupada, and hundreds of others, murdering and mutilating some 
when half-asleep and others as they attempted to fly. Those who escaped by the 
gate were slain by Kripa and Kritavarman (425). Such was the carnage that the 
ground was covered with thousands of dead bodies (432), and Rakshasas flitted about 
devouring the mutilated corpses (452). After killing every one in the camp and de- 
stroying the whole Pandu army (the five Pandavas themselves with Satyaki and 
Krishna excepted, they being stationed outside the camp, see p. 120, 1. 28), As'watthaman 
joined his comrades, and they all three proceeded to the spot where Duryodhana was 
lying. They found him still breathing (kinchit-prdna, 480), but weltering in his blood 
and surrounded by beasts of prey. As'watthaman then announced to him that he was 
avenged, as only seven of the Pandu army were now left (viz. the five Pandavas, Sa- 
tyaki, and Krishna*) — all the rest were slaughtered like cattle (531). Duryodhana 
hearing this, revived a little, and gathered strength to say, " Not even Bhishma or 
Karna or Drona did for me what you have done, farewell ! we shall meet again in 
heaven" (swasti prdpnuta bhadramvah swargenah sang amah punah). He then expired ; 
his spirit rising to heaven and his body entering the ground (536). The three Kuru 
chiefs, as morning dawned, returned to their own city. Thus perished the armies of 
both Kurus and Pandavas (540). 

Meanwhile the charioteer of Dhrishtadyumna, who had by some means escaped 
the slaughter, conveyed the news to the Pandavas. When Yudhishthira heard of 
it, and of the death of his own son, he fell down in a swoon. They then proceeded 
to the camp, where the sight of their slaughtered kindred and army moved them 

* To these should be added the charioteer of Dhrishtadyumna. 



ELEVENTH BOOK OR STEl'-PABVA. 123 

deeply. Draupadi was sent for, and was so affected at the death of her rive sons, 
that she made Bhima promise to take revenge on As'watthaman and bring her the 
jewel on his head. He accordingly set out with the intention of killing him (602), 
and was followed by his brothers and Krishna. When As'watthaman saw them 
approaching, he hurled towards them a fearful arrow (ishika), called Brahma-siras, 
which he had received from his father Drona, and which would have burnt up the 
three worlds (669) had not the Rishis, Xarada, and Vyasa interposed. They pre- 
vented any further fighting, and settled the matter by requiring As'watthaman to 
give up the jewel on his head, which Bhima then made over to Draupadi (748). The 
book ends by Krishna's explaining to Yudhishthira the assistance that S'iva had 
rendered to As'watthaman in his night-attack (765). Krishna also gave a curious 
account of the part which Brahma wished S'iva to take in the creation of all living 
beings, and of the delay occasioned by a long penance performed by S'iva immersed 
in water (770). 

ELEVENTH BOOK or STRI- PARYA.— Dhritarashtra was so overwhelmed 
with grief for the death of his sons (194), that his father Vyasa appeared to him and 
consoled him by pointing out that their fate was pre-destined, and that as mortals 
they could not escape death (205 — 211). He also declared that the Pandavas were 
not to blame (228) ; that Duryodhana, though born from Gandhari, was really a 
partial incarnation of Kali* (Kaler ansa, 223); and that he and his brothers had 
perished through their own fault (dtmdparddhdt). 

Vidura also comforted the king with his usual sensible advice, and recommended 
that the preta-kdrydni (funeral ceremonies) should be performed (252). Dhritarash- 
tra then ordered carriages to be prepared, and with the women proceeded to the field 
of battle (269). On his way he met the three surviving Kuru chiefs, Kripa, As'wat- 
thaman, and Kritavarman, who informed him of their successful night-attack and 
destruction of the Pandu army (300). Then, leaving him, these three took leave of 
each other and made good their escape ; Kripa taking refuge at Hastinapur, Krita- 
varman (also called Bhoja and Hardikya) returning to his own kingdom, and As'wat- 
thaman retiring to the hermitage of Vyasa. 

The five Pandavas and Krishna now came to meet Dhritarashtra, who pretending 
a return of affection for them, suddenly formed the resolution of revenging himself 
on Bhima for killing Duryodhana unfairly. He first embraced Yudhishthira very 
warmly, and then requested that Bhima might come to him, his intention being to 
hug him like a bear and so squeeze him to death t; but Krishna, who foresaw his 

* So also S'akuni is said to ho an incarnation of Dwapara : Sunrgdrokamka-panfO, 
t Dhritarashtra. though blind, was remarkable for his strength : B06 note *. p. 94. 

R 2 



124 SUMMARY OF THE LEADING STORY OF THE MAHA-BHA'RATA. 

design, quietly pushed Bhima aside, and placed an iron image of Bhima in the blind 
man's arms. The old king, hoping to demolish his victim by a tremendous embrace, 
crushed the image to pieces, and fell to the earth covered with his own blood ; then 
immediately repenting of his treachery, he exclaimed, " Alas ! Bhima ! " but was 
consoled by Krishna, who explained that he had harmed no one except himself 
(325—342). 

Dhritarashtra then became reconciled to the Pandavas, and presented them to 
Gandhari (360). She, however, would have cursed them had not Vyasa suddenly 
appeared and prevented her (366). Yudhishthira then expressed his anguish for 
having participated in the slaughter of so many relatives, declared he was worthy of 
her curse, and had no desire either for life, kingdom, or riches (408). Gandhari upon 
that became appeased. The Pandavas next embraced and comforted their mother 
Pritha. 

We have afterwards a description of the wailings of the queen Gandhari, and the 
other wives and women, over the bodies of the slain heroes, as one by one they came 
in sight on the field of battle (427 — 755). Their lamentations resemble those of the 
females over the fallen Rakshasas, in the Yuddha-kanda of the Ramayana. 

In the Sraddha-parva (or upa-parva), at the end of the book, we have an account 
of the funeral obsequies (srdddha) as performed at the command of Yudhishthira by 
Dhaumya, Vidura, and others (779.) 

TWELFTH BOOK or S'ANTI-PARVA, i. e. the book of Consolation.— This is 
the longest in the poem, but is chiefly episodical. After the events recorded in the 
last book, Vyasa, Narada, Kanwa, and other Rishis presented themselves before 
Yudhishthira and congratulated him on the conclusion of hostilities and his acces- 
sion to the throne. 

Yudhishthira answered, " The whole earth has indeed been conquered through 
reliance on the power of Krishna, by the favour of the Brahmans, and by the might of 
Bhima and Arjuna, but deep grief abides in my heart, that lust of dominion should 
have caused the destruction of my relatives. When I remember the slaughter of my 
son Abhimanyu and of Draupadi's beloved children, this victory appears to me as bad 
as a defeat" (13 — 15). He accordingly expressed his disgust with the world, and his 
desire to give up the kingdom gained after so much hard fighting. Upon this Vyasa 
and the Rishis urged upon him his duty, as a Kshatriya, of governing his subjects 
(1203). Various stories are told and topics suggested for the tranquillising (sdnti) of 
his troubled spirit. 

Yudhishthira then roused himself and determined to undertake his kingly duties. 
H^e entered the city of Hastinapur in triumph, accompanied by his brothers (1386). 



TWELFTH BOOK OR SXNTI-PARVA. 125 

All the streets were decorated ; and Brahmans offered him congratulations, which he 
acknowledged by distributing largesses among them (1410). One Brahman, however, 
was an exception. This turned out to be an impostor, a friend of Duryodhana — a 
Rakshasa named Charvaka — who in the disguise of a mendicant reviled him and the 
Brahmans*. He was, however, soon detected ; and the real Brahmans, filled with fury 
and uttering imprecations, killed him on the spot. 

Krishna then explained, that in ancient times this Rakshasa, after practising aus- 
terities, had obtained from Brahma, as a boon, security against the attacks of all 
creatures ; but only on one condition, viz. that he should abstain from disrespect to 
Brahmans (1430— 1442). 

After this incident, Yudhishthira, seated on a golden throne (1443), was solemnly 
inaugurated king, and Bhima was associated with him as heir-apparent (1475). Still 
restless and uneasy, and his mind filled with doubt and anxiety, Yudhishthira wished 
for advice and instruction, and Krishna recommended him to apply to Bhishma (1574), 
who remained alive on the field of battle, reclining on his soldier's bed (vira-sayana j 
see p. 116, 1. 19), and surrounded by Vyasa, Narada, and other holy sages (1591). 
Accordingly, Yudhishthira and his brothers, accompanied by Krishna, Kripa, and 
others, set out for Kurukshetra (1700), passing mutilated corpses, skulls, broken 
armour, and other evidences of the fearful nature of the war. This reminded Krishna 
of the slaughter caused by Parasu-Rama, who cleared the earth thrice seven times of 
the Kshatriya caste (1707). His story was accordingly narrated to Yudhishthira 
(1707 — 1805). Part of it will be found translated in Wilson's Vishnu-Purana, p. 401. 
They then approached Bhishma lying on his couch of arrows (sara-sanstara-sdyinam, 
181 1 ), and Krishna begged him to instruct Yudhishthira, and calm his spirit by his 
sage advice (1843. 1861). Bhishma replied that, pierced as he was with arrows, he 
was too weak to talk, and begged Krishna to excuse him (187 1). Krishna then 
removed the weakness and faintness caused by his wounds, and gave him super- 
natural strength to speak. 

The discourses and episodes which occupy the remainder of this long book are 
comprehended in three sections : 1. The Raja-dharmanusasana-parva, or duties of 
kings. (This commences at 1. 1 ; but the Raja-dharma, as enunciated by Bhishma, 
extends only from 1995 to 4778.) 2. The A'pad-dharma-parva, or rules of conduct 
in adversity (4779 — 6455). 3. The Moksha-dharma-parva, or rules for obtaining 
final emancipation (6457 — 13943). 

* See a full translation of this passage, and some valuable remarks thereon, in Dr. J. Muir's 
paper on Indian Materialists, Asiatic Journal, vol. XIX. part iii. p. 299. Mr. Cowoll hae 
lately written an interesting paper on the Charvakas in the Bengal Asiatic Society's Journal. 



126 SUMMARY OF THE LEADING STORY OF THE MAHA-BHARATA. 

It is to be observed, that Krishna, Narada, Vyasa, and other Rishis join in the 
didactic discourses contained in the Santi-parva. At 1. 1241 we have some curious 
rules for expiation (prdyaschitta), and at 1. 1393 rules for what to eat and what to 
avoid (bhakshydbhakshya). Some of the precepts are either taken from or founded on 
Manu. For instance, compare 1. 6071 with Manu II. 238. Many of the moral verses 
in the Hitopades'a will be found in the Santi-parva ; and the fable of the three fishes 
in the Sandhi is founded on the story at 1. 4889. 

THIRTEENTH BOOK or ANUS'XSANA-PARVA, i. e. the book of Precepts.— 
This is very like the last, and almost as long. Yudhishthira, looking at Bhishma's 
body covered with arrows, and haunted by the remembrance of the sufferings and 
slaughter of his kindred, declared that his spirit was still untranquillised, in spite of 
the soothing discourses and stories contained in the last book. He therefore begged 
Bhishma to continue instructing him, in order that, purified by precepts, his soul 
might be delivered in the next world from the guilt of blood (1 — 14). 

The whole Parva is divided into two very unequal sections ; of which the first, 
or Anusasanika-parva, is by far the longest, and extends to 1. 7705. In this we have 
further discourses from Bhishma and others on the duties of kings, liberality {ddna- 
dharma, 2926 — 4812), rules about fasting (upavdsa-vidhi, 5133), rules about eating, 
&c. (5594), mixed up with tales, legends, wise axioms, moral and metaphysical dis- 
quisitions, and much really sensible, practical instruction on various social and poli- 
tical questions. At the end we are told that Yudhishthira, prakritim dpannah, restored 
to his usual tranquil frame of mind (7694), wished to return to Hastinapur, and under- 
take the government. Bhishma permitted him to do so, but requested him to revisit 
him as soon as the sun had entered its northern path {uttardyana, 7702). Yudhishthira 
then returned to the city, accompanied by Krishna and the Rishis. 

The second section is called the Swargarohanika-parva, and describes Bhishma's 
ascension to heaven (7706 — 7796). Yudhishthira dwelt fifty days in Hastinapur, con- 
ciliating the affections of his subjects, and recompensing the wives and families of the 
slain heroes by gifts and largesses (7710). Then, remembering his promise, he returned 
to Bhishma, accompanied by his brothers and by Krishna, Dhritarashtra, Vidura, 
Gandhari, Pritha, &c. 

We have then a description of the last scene in the life of Bhishma, who had been 
lying for fifty-eight nights on his spiky bed (7732). Surrounded by his relatives, he 
bade them farewell, and asked Krishna's leave to depart (7742 — 7751). Then sud- 
denly the arrows left his body (7761), his skull divided, and his spirit, bright as a 
meteor, ascended through the top of his head to the skies (7765)- They covered him 
with garlands and perfumes, and carried him to the Ganges for the performance of 



FOURTEENTH BOOK OR A'SWAMEDHIKA-PARVA. 127 

the last obsequies. The goddess of the river raised herself from the water, and 
bewailed her son in a mournful dirge (7780), but was comforted by Krishna (7788). 

FOURTEENTH BOOK or ASWAMEDHIKA-PARVA.— On the death of 
Bhishma, Yudhishthira was so overcome that he fell down on the bank of the 
Ganges, like an elephant pierced by a hunter (2). Dhritarashtra and Krishna tried 
to rouse him, and the latter recommended him, as a remedy for his grief, to perform 
sacrifices, to fee Brahmans, to regale gods and pitris with soma, to feast guests, &c. 
(22). Vyasa also encouraged him to turn his mind to sacrificial acts, and in support 
of his advice related various stories, such as that of Marutta (65 — 290), and the old 
legend of Indra and Vritra (299). Then they all returned to Hastinapur; Yudhishthira, 
calmed and satisfied, assumed the government (359), and prepared for sacrificing. 

Meanwhile Krishna and Arjuna took a tour together (366), and had a long con- 
versation (407), in which the former entertained Arjuna with a variety of curious tra- 
ditions, and introduced Brahmans, Rishis, and Saints, who repeated legendary narra- 
tives and discoursed on mystical topics, such as those discussed before in the Bhagavad- 
gita, which Arjuna had forgotten (812). Thus we have a conversation about Moksha- 
dharma (823), the story of Arjuna-kartavirya and Parasu-Rama (817), that of Alarka, 
&c. &c. (840). This long episode is called the Anugita (subsequent Gita). 

They then rejoined the rest of the party at Hastinapur (1482), and Krishna after 
remaining there a short time set out on his return to Dwaraka, accompanied by 
Satyaki. On his way he was met by a certain Muni of great sanctity, named Utanka 
(1544), who threatened to curse him for having permitted the slaughter of the Kuru 
race (1556). Krishna, however, averted the curse by explaining his own divine nature, 
and his identity with Brahma, Vishnu, Indra, and the whole universe (1576). There- 
upon Utanka acknowledged the god, and requested him to exhibit himself in his 
divine form, which Krishna did (1597). Utanka' s story and his reason for wishing to 
curse Krishna are then related, and his connection with the sage Gautama and 
Ahalya (1625). 

On his return to Dwaraka, Krishna narrated the whole history of the war to his 
father Vasudeva (1772). He tried to conceal from him the death of Abhimanyu, but 
Subhadra found it out (1890); and to soothe their grief, Krishna told them that Abhi- 
manyu's wife (Uttara) should bring forth a child that should rule the whole earth 
(1843. 1863). 

We have then an account of the preparations for the As'wamedha (1873). Vyfaa 
appeared at Hastinapur, and by his advice Yudhishthira did homage to S'iva and 
Kuvera, and obtained great treasures, golden vessels, and implements of all kinds 
(1922). Krishna and Satyaki, accompanied by Balarama, Samba. Kritavarnmn, 



128 SUMMARY OF THE LEADING STORY OF THE MAHA'-BHARATA. 

Subhadra, and the Vrishnis, returned to Hastinapur to be present (1937). Soon 
afterwards was born (1943) Parikshit, the posthumous child of Abhimanyu (by Virata's 
daughter Uttara) and the father of Janamejaya (the king to whom the Maha-bharata 
is recited). Parikshit was born dead (1944); but the corpse was taken to Krishna, 
who pronounced some remarkable words over it (2026 — 2032) and brought it to life. 

The preparation for the As'wamedha then commenced in earnest. Vyasa urged it 
in these words, — Yajaswa vdjimedhena vidhivad dakshindvatd, Aswamedho hi rdjendra 
pdvanah sarvapdpmandm Teneshtwd twam vipdpmd vai bhavitd ndtra sansayah (2070). 
Yudhishthira requested Vyasa to consecrate him by the initiatory ceremonies {dikshd), 
and this was done accordingly at the proper time (2084. 21 10. 2620). The horse, 
according to the usual custom (see note, p. 63 of this volume), was let loose to wander 
over the earth for a year, and Arjuna was appointed to guard it (2096 — 2105), while 
Bhima and Nakula defended the city (2108). Arjuna had some trouble to defend the 
horse as it roamed about from one quarter of the compass to the other; and did 
battle, first, with the people of Trigarta (2142); then with Dhrita-varman (2157); 
then with Vajradatta and his elephant (2175 — 2214); then with the Saindhavas 
(2222), to the great grief of Duhs'ala, daughter of Dhritarashtra (see p. 95, 1. 23 of 
this volume), who tried to prevent the fighting (2275 — 2290) ; then with his own son 
Babhru-vahana at Manipura (2303 — 2431 j and see p. 101, 1. 12 of this volume); then 
with Sahadeva's son Megha-sandhi (2436); then with Chitrangada at Das'arna (2471), 
and with the Nishadas and Dravidas in the Dakshin or South country (2476); then in 
the West with the son of Sakuni (2483); till at last the horse ceased from its wander- 
ings and returned to Hastinapur (2510). 

Then commenced the sacrifice. The ground was duly measured out (2521), sheds 
erected, posts fixed, houses for the Brahmans built, &c. &c. (2521 — 2525). We have, 
lastly, an account of the ceremony itself and the largesses to the Brahmans (2620 — 
2683). 

The remainder of this book is taken up with the story of the Brahman Unchha- 
vritti, related by Nakula (2172). 

FIFTEENTH BOOK or AS'RAMA-VASIKA-PARVA.— This and the remaining 
books are comparatively short. The Pandavas and king Dhritarashtra lived happily 
together for some time ; Yudhishthira ruling the kingdom, though deference was still 
paid to the old blind monarch (60). The father, however, never forgave Bhima for 
having killed his son ; and was always meditating evil against him (61). Bhima, also, 
indulged resentful feelings against Dhritarashtra, and publicly insulted him (64). At 
last the old king asked Yudhishthira' s leave to escape from the troubles of life by 
retiring to the woods (97). Yudhishthira at first refused, and begged to be allowed 



SIXTEENTH BOOK OR MAUSALA-PARVA. 12i? 

to go himself, leaving Dhritarashtra to rule (108). In the end, however, by the advice 
of Vyasa (148), he gave his consent to the departure of Dhritarashtra, who there- 
upon proceeded to the forest with his wife Gandhari (428), Kunti also (the mother of 
three of the Pandavas) accompanying them (496). They took up their abode in a 
hermitage, on the banks of the Ganges (510), where Vidura and others afterwards 
joined them. They were also visited in their solitude by the Pandu princes and 
Draupadi, who were solicitous about the welfare of their relatives (637). While resi- 
dent in the woods, Vidura, by penance, devotion, and complete mental abstraction, 
obtained release from his mortal body, and union with the supreme spirit (691. 941). 
Then Vyasa consoled Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, Kunti, and the others by a sight of 
all the warriors killed in the war, whose ghosts he called up from the waters of the 
Ganges (874). After this the Pandavas, with Draupadi and their followers, returned 
to Hastinapur (10 10). 

Two years passed away, when one day the sage Narada appeared (ion), and in- 
formed Yudhishthira of the fate of his relatives in the forest — how they had continued to 
emaciate themselves by penance on the banks of the Ganges at Gangadwara; and how 
a forest conflagration (ddvdgni) arising, the old king and Gandhari and Kunti refused 
to escape (1029). They sat down and calmly awaited the fire, persuading themselves 
that by self-immolation they would secure heaven and felicity (1034). Sanjaya (Dhrita- 
rashtra' s charioteer) alone escaped, and retiring to Himavat, died there (1044). 

The news of this calamity affected the Pandavas deeply. They broke out into lamen- 
tations, execrating themselves, their kingdom, and their hardly-won triumph (1050). 
This prepares us for the final catastrophe in the seventeenth and eighteenth books. 

SIXTEENTH BOOK or MAUSALA-PARVA.— In this is narrated the death of 
Krishna and Balarama, their return to heaven (261), the submergence of Dwaraka by 
the sea (217), and the self-destruction of Krishna's family through the curse of some 
Brahmans. The curse is narrated, 15 — 21, thus : " One day Sarana and some others of 
the race of Vrishni and Andhaka saw Vis'wamitra, Kanwa, and Narada, rich in penance, 
come to Dwaraka. Influenced by destiny, they dressed up Samba (son of Krishna and 
Jambavati) as a woman, and placing him in front, approached the sages, and said, 
'This is the wife of the illustrious Babhru, who desires a son. Know ye, O sages, 
what offspring she will produce ?' Then the munis, being thus addressed, and feeling 
themselves insulted by the trick, answered in the following manner : ' This Samba, 
the son and heir of Krishna, will produce a terrific iron club (musala), for the destruction 
of the race of Vrishni and Andhaka ; with which you yourselves, while indulging your 
wicked and cruel passions, shall exterminate your whole family, except only Balarama 
and Krishna. As to the illustrious Balarama, abandoning his body, he shall enter 



130 SUMMARY OF THE LEADING STORY OF THE MAHa'-BHA'rATA. 

the ocean, and (the hunter) Jara (or c old-age') shall pierce the magnanimous Krishna 
while reclining on the ground.' " 

The working of this curse is then described, and will be found also narrated in the 
Vishnu-purana (Wilson, p. 606). The club was duly produced from Samba, but was 
ground to powder and thrown into the sea (28). The particles of dust, according to 
the Purana, floated to land, and became grass. A proclamation was then made, that 
none of the citizens of Dwaraka should thenceforth drink wine or spirits, on pain of 
being impaled alive (30). But Krishna did not think fit to counteract what had been 
predetermined by destiny (24). Fearful omens now occurred, and the sage Uddhava, 
foreseeing some terrible disaster, went away (67). One day, at a great assembly or 
festival which took place by desire of Krishna at Prabhasa, the Andhakas and Yadavas 
(i.e. the race of Krishna) indulged in the forbidden liquor (71). Balarama and Krita- 
varman sat drinking together near Krishna on one side, Satyaki and others on the 
other (72). Then Satyaki taunted Kritavarman for his treachery in assisting As'wat- 
thaman to kill the sleeping Pandavas (74; and see p. 122, 1. 17). This led to a 
quarrel, in which Satyaki cut off Kritavarman's head. Upon that the Andhakas 
attacked and killed Satyaki (88), and the quarrel became general. Fathers killed 
sons, and sons fathers (97). Krishna also, seeing his own son and Satyaki dead, 
became infuriated, and plucked a handful of grass, which was turned to an enormous 
club (92). Then the others also in their fury plucked the grass or rushes (erakd), 
which turned to clubs (95), and with these they slaughtered each other ; till none were 
left but Krishna and Balarama. Among the slain were Krishna's sons, Samba, 
Charudeshna, and Pradyumna, and the latter's son Aniruddha (100). Krishna, over- 
come with grief and vexation, sent his charioteer Daruka to inform the Pandavas. 
Then, leaving Balarama standing under a tree near a wood, in profound abstraction, 
Krishna went to his own father Vasudeva, and begged him to take care of all the 
women in Dwaraka until the arrival of Arjuna; adding, that he (Krishna) intended to 
devote himself to penance along with Balarama for the rest of his life (114). On 
returning, however, he found Balarama expiring ; a large serpent coming out of his 
mouth and entering the ocean * (117). Soon afterwards, while Krishna was reclining 
on the ground in deep meditation, a hunter named Jara [according to the Vishnu- 
purana, his arrow was tipped with a piece of iron from a part of the club that had 
not been reduced to powder] mistook him for game, and, shooting at his foot, 
pierced the sole (126). Krishna then abandoned his mortal body, and returned to 
heaven (130). 

When Arjuna heard of this calamity from Daruka he set out for Dwaraka, and 

* Balarama is often regarded as an avatar of the great thousand-headed serpent Ananta. 



SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH BOOKS, &C. 131 

great was his grief at the sight of the slaughter. He first sought out Krishna's 
father, Vasudeva (here called Anakadundubhi), whom he found distracted by sorrow. 
Arjuna then told him of his intention to remove from Dwaraka all the old men, 
women, and children who were left alone (181). He next searched for the bodies of 
Krishna and Balarama, caused them to be burnt, and performed the usual funeral 
rites (207, 208). Arjuna then lodged for the night in Krishna's house, and next 
morning Vasudeva died (by self-immolation, according to the Vishnu-purana, p. 613), 
his four wives (Devaki, Rohini, Bhadia, and Madira) burning themselves with his 
body (194). Some of Krishna's wires (viz. Rukmini, Gandhari, Haimavati, and 
Jambavati) also burnt themselves ; but Satyabhama and others retired to the woods 
(249). Arjuna then commenced removing all the surviving population to Indra- 
prastha. As they departed from Dwaraka it became submerged by the ocean (217). 

On their road to Indraprastha, they made a circuit and passed through the Panjab 
(Pancha-nada, 221). Here they were attacked by a band of freebooters*, who were 
attracted by the sight of so many women and so much treasure defended by one 
warrior (224). Arjuna protected the women as well as he could ; but to his astonish- 
ment found that he had lost his wonted vigour, and that even the arrows from 
Gandiva failed to take their usual effect. As a last resource, he was obliged to strike 
the robbers with the horn of his bow (238); but in spite of all his efforts, they 
succeeded in carrying off many of the women (239). 

The remainder of the women, old men, and children were established by Arjuna, 
some at Martikavata in Kurukshetra, some at Indraprastha, with Vajra (great grand- 
son of Krishna) as their ruler (245 — 248). 

Arjuna then went to Vyasa, and related the story of his own defeat, attributing the 
loss of his vigour to the death of Krishna, bereaved of whom he did not wish to live 
(277). . Vyasa comforted him, declaring that it did not become him to grieve at the 
working of destiny (279 — 290). 

SEVENTEENTH and EIGHTEENTH BOOKS, called MAHAPRASTHA- 
NIKA-PARVA and SWARGAROHANIKA-PARVA.— In these we have the fine 
description of the renunciation of their kingdom by the five brothers, and their 
journey towards Indra's heaven in mount Meru, which has been already given at 
}). 2() of this volume. 



A'bklras, who were shepherds and herdsmen as \\<dl as marauders. 



132 khila-harivans'a-parva, 



KHILA-HARIVANS'A-PARVA, i. e. the supplementary book on the history of 
Krishna and his family*. This supplement, which is a comparatively modern addition 
to the Maha-bharata, consists of no less than 16,374 verses, comprised in three subor- 
dinate parvas. The following are the principal contents of the first, or Harivansa- 
parva. A description of the creation of the world and of all creatures (27). The 
story of Piithu (283). An account of the various Manus and Manwantaras (407) and 
Yugas (516). History of the solar race — birth of Vivaswat and his family (545). 
Story of Dhundumara (690). Birth of Galava (728). History of Tris'anku (749). 
Account of the birth of Sagara and others of the solar family, including Rama- 
chandra, son of Dasaratha (797 — 822). The creation of the Pitris, with allusions to 
the sraddha ceremony, sacred to them, as related by Bhishma while reclining on his 
bed of arrows (845 ; and see p. 116 of this volume). History of the lunar race — Atri, 
Soma, Budha (131 2), Pururavas (1364). The family of Amavasu, son of Pururavas, 
Gadhi (1429), Viswamitra (1457) and his son Sunahsephaf (1471)- The family of 
A'yus, son of Pururavas, viz. Nahusha (1476), Yayati (1600). Line of Puru, son of 
Yayati, viz. Dushmanta, husband of S'akuntala and father of Bharata (1723), Aja- 
midha (1756), Jarasandha (1811), Santanu (1823), Vyasa (1826), Dhritarashtra and 
Pandu and their sons (1826). Line of Yadu, viz. Sahasrada (1843), Haihaya (1844), 
Kanaka, Kritavirya, Kritavarman (1850), Arjuna, son of Kritavirya, and therefore 
called Kartavirya (i852),Vrishni and Andhaka (1908), S'waphalka (1912), Sura (1922), 
Vasudeva, or Anakadundubhi J, and his sister Pritha (1923 — 1928). Vasudeva's 
fourteen wives ; the first and best-loved of whom was Rohini, mother of Balarama 
(1950), and the seventh Devaki, mother of Krishna (1953). Krishna's acquisition of 
the jewel Syamantaka§ (2068). Vishnu's manifestation of himself, and an account 
of his various incarnations (2200), with his destruction of various daityas or demons 
(2200—3179). 

* Khila means any thing which fills up a hole or vacuum ; hence, ' a supplement.' This sup- 
plement has been translated into French by M. Langlois, and the translation was published 
by the Oriental Translation Committee. 

+ This agrees with the Vishnu-purana, which also makes S'unahsephas the son or adopted 
son of Viswamitra (Wilson, p. 404). As the author of various Suktas, he is called in the 
Bralimanas, the son of Ajigarta ; and in the Rainayana, he is the son of Richfka ; see p. 66 of 
this volume, note ||. 

X So called because drums and tabors (dnaka, dundubhi) were heard in the sky at his birth, 
besides the ordinary portent of a shower of flowers. 

§ An account of this will be found in my English-Sanskrit Dictionary, under the word 
Krishna. 



KH JLA-HAR1 VANS' A-PARVA. 133 

The second, or Vishnu-parva, gives a detailed biography of Krishna. It commences 
with an account of the Asura Kansa (king of Mathura and brother of Devaki), and 
his efforts to destroy the young Krishna, by shutting up Devaki and killing her off- 
spring (3214). We have then all the well-known incidents in the life of Krishna, 
beginning with his childhood, which are also detailed in the tenth book of the Bha- 
gavat-purana, and its Hindi paraphrase, the Prem Sagar*, as well as in the fifth 
book of the Vishnu-purana (Wilson, p. 491). 

The third, or Bhavishya-parva, commences with an account of the future condition 
of the world, and of the corruptions that would prevail during the Kali-yug f, espe- 
cially at its close (n 132). A very similar description will be found in the Vishnu- 
purana (Wilson, p. 622). Among other characteristics of the age, the distinctions of 
caste were to be destroyed (11 133), the seasons were to be reversed (11 141), and 
infidel opinions were to be every where prevalent (11 176). 

We have next a curious section called Paushkara (11 279). In this is described the 
production of the lotus (pushkara) out of the navel of Vishnu, while sleeping on the 
waters, and the development of the globe and all material objects out of the various 
parts of the plant (1 1444 — 11460), Brahma himself, with four faces and a white turban, 
being seated in the middle of it (11470). 

The latter portion of the Bhavishya-parva contains an account of the Varaha, 
Narasinha, and Vamana, incarnations of Vishnu (12278, &c), and of his journey 
to Kailasa for the purpose of worshipping S'iva and performing penance (14393). 

The book closes with a metrical summary of all three parvas (16325 — 16356). 

* The details will be found in my English-Sanskrit Dictionary, under Krishna. I have not 
thought it worth while to repeat them here. 

f The Kali-yug was supposed to commence at the death of Krishna. The events of the 
Mah<l-bharata must therefore have taken place during the third or Dwapara age, and those of 
the Ramayana at the end of the second or Tret£ age. From the gambling scene in the Second 
Act of the Mriehchhakati, it is probable that the names of the four ages are connected with 
throws of dice ; Tretd being the throw of three, which was the second best throw, and DwtC- 
para the throw of two, which was a worse throw, the worst throw of all being Kali. The 
Hindi! notion appears to have been that gambling prevailed especially in the Dwapara and 
Kali yugas. In the episode of Nala, the personified Dwapara enters into the dice, and the 
personified Kali into Nala himself, who is then seized with the fatal passion for play. On the 
subject of the four yugas, see Muir's ' Sanskrit Texts,' vol. I. p. 57 ; Weber's Ind. Stud. I. 286 
and 460. 



ORIENTAL WORKS 

BY 

MONIES, WILLIAMS, M.A., 

BODEN PROFESSOR OF SANSKRIT IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD. 



A PRACTICAL GRAMMAR OF THE SANSKRIT LANGUAGE, arranged with 
reference to the Classical Languages of Europe, for the use of English students. 
2d edition, published at the Oxford University Press, 1857. Price 135. 6d. 

STORY OF NALA, a Sanskrit poem, with full vocabulary, and Dean Milman's 
translation. Published at the Oxford University Press, i860. Price 155. 

AN ENGLISH AND SANSKRIT DICTIONARY. Published by the Court of 
Directors of the East India Company. (W. H. Allen, 1851.) 

VIKRAMORVASF, a Sanskrit drama, published as a class-book for the East India 
College. (Stephen Austin, Hertford, 1849.) 

SAKUNTALA', a Sanskrit drama. The Devanagari recension of the text, with critical 
notes and literal translations. (Stephen Austin, 1853.) 

A FREE TRANSLATION IN ENGLISH PROSE AND VERSE OF THE 
SANSKRIT DRAMA SAKUNTALA'. 3d edition. Price 55. (Stephen Austin, 
1856.) 

AN EASY INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF HINDUSTANI. Price 
25. 6d. (Longmans, 1859.) 

ORIGINAL PAPERS illustrating the history of the application of the Roman alphabet 
to the languages of India. (Longmans, 1859.) 

BAGH O BAHAR, the Hindustani text, with notes, and an Introductory Essay on 
the application of the Roman alphabet to the languages of India. Price 55. (Long- 
mans, 1859.) 

HINDUSTANI PRIMER. Price is. 8d. (Longmans.) 

A PRACTICAL GRAMMAR OF THE HINDUSTANI LANGUAGE. Price 55. 
(Longmans.) 

A SANSKRIT MANUAL, containing the Accidence of Grammar, and Progressive 
Exercises for composition. Price 55. 6d. (W. H. Allen and Co., 1862.) 

THE STUDY OF SANSKRIT IN RELATION TO MISSIONARY WORK IN 
INDIA: a lecture delivered before the University of Oxford, on April 19, 1861. 
With notes and additions. Price 2s. (Williams and Norgate, London : J. H. and 
James Parker, Oxford.) 

Shortly to be printed. 
A DICTIONARY, SANSKRIT AND ENGLISH, in one volume. 






\s 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



0005354^13 



fk«£W 



s§tb 



g:« 



Em 



r J' 






fci 7 *?**'" ^ ' JIB* 






'M 




P: 



im 



m 






'jmmm 



h< 







.^vX* 



** 



; 



* 



§r*& 



